Everlong
by evergreeen
Summary: "Life tends to give you what you're looking for where you least expect it." When Julia Young's life gets turned upside down again just before graduation, she hopes going back to the rez for her cousin's wedding will help her escape her troubles. Meanwhile, the pack is changing & Embry is just trying to get by. Little do they know, their lives are about to get way more complicated.
1. Chapter 1: Remember

A/N: Hi, everyone! I decided to jump back into creative writing after taking about four or five years off, so I apologize if this first chapter is a little rough. I haven't picked up the Twilight series in a good seven years, but I always thought Embry was extremely underrated and deserved his happy ending, so I'm going to do my best to give it to him. Lol.

I got the inspiration for this story from the song Everlong by the Foo Fighters (and if you couldn't tell, it's also where I got the title), so I highly encourage you to listen to it. There is an acoustic version as well that is just beautiful. Also throughout the story I'll occasionally put some songs for suggested listening in this little notes section, if I have any for that particular chapter.

I'm excited to see where this little writing journey takes me. Thank you in advance for reading along.

* * *

(Set three years after Breaking Dawn)

Chapter 1: Remember

They say that in stressful situations, all animals, including humans, will choose one of two responses to their perceived threat: fight or flight. That is, either they will stick around and stand their ground, or simply run away. Neither choice has a distinct advantage over the other, however Julia preferred the latter. Furthermore, she had perfected it.

It was an unusually warm May afternoon in the town of Port Orchard, and the South Kitsap High School women's lacrosse team was currently battling their biggest rival. The sweat on Julia's brow glistened as the sun beat down on her and her teammates; it was nearly blinding.

The Seattle Academy Cardinals currently had possession of the ball and Julia was looking for any opportunity to change that. She kept her gaze fixed on the girl carrying it, watching as her team's defense forced her to drop it. Immediately she sprang into action, running after the loose ball then scooping it off of the ground after a brief battle with two opposing players. Now with possession, Julia charged down the field, cradling the ball carefully while still trying to maintain her speed.

"Damn Butch, your girl's got wheels," a guy watching from the stands remarked to his friend.

"Yep. Fastest on the team."

With the nearest defender trailing her by about five feet, Julia cleared the offensive zone. She could feel the adrenaline pumping. The South Kitsap Wolves were all tied up with the Cardinals, and with only fifteen seconds left on the clock, she wanted to be the one to win it. As she closed in on the Cardinals' goaltender, Julia wasted no time in firing off a shot. The ball flew from Julia's stick high over the goaltender's right shoulder and into the back of the net. Dropping her stick, Julia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled up at the sky as her teammates came to celebrate her goal. She could feel her dad with her in that moment.

"That was a beaut, Jules," her best friend Natalie exclaimed, embracing her teammate. The two watched as a game official came over and picked up Julia's discarded stick, examining it before giving a curt nod to the other officials. It was a good goal.

"South Kitsap's ninth goal of the game is scored by team captain Julia Young," the announcer's voice echoed across the field. "That is Young, unassisted with eight seconds left in the last quarter."

"Thanks, Nat," Julia said, smiling again. "Now let's get this draw control and end it."

The teams joined each other again at the center circle for one last draw control. The ref blew her whistle, and one of Julia's teammates picked up the ball, playing keep away as the last seconds of the game expired. Soon enough, the buzzer sounded, signaling the end to the hard-fought match.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your South Kitsap Wolves have done it again!" The announcer exclaimed as Julia and her teammates came together to celebrate their win. They were tired, sweaty, and breathing heavily, yet their smiles spread from ear to ear.

"Make sure you join us here at South Kitsap Stadium this Saturday for the team's last home game of the regular season," The announcer reminded the crowd. "...Where we'll be celebrating the accomplishments of our graduating seniors."

The girls walked off the field, embracing each other and jumping around happily as they made their way over to the sidelines. As Julia began to gather her belongings, she thought of how much she would've loved for her dad to have been there, cheering her on at one of her last high school lacrosse games. However, she knew it was a desire that could never truly be fulfilled. She sighed, looking up and catching a glimpse of a familiar smiling face and head of dark hair coming closer to her.

"Great game, babe," yelled her boyfriend, Ben Butcher. He flashed her a smile and jogged over to meet her. A few of his friends trailed not too far behind him.

"Thanks, Ben," she smiled back as he placed a small kiss on her lips.

Julia's teammates greeted Ben and his friends. They all played for the South Kitsap men's lacrosse team. To say that the two teams were close would be an understatement.

"So we got the details squared away for this weekend," Ben said as Julia continued to collect her things. "Bonfire's gonna be at Cory's place on Saturday night. We'll start around ten I think."

"I suppose we might be able to make it," Julia said playfully.

"Aye, captain. Oh yeah, almost forgot," he replied with a sly smile. "It's mandatory."

"Then we'll be there."

Julia slipped her bag onto her shoulder, ready to go. Ben took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers together and pulling her in for another kiss.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get something to eat with the boys later. You interested?"

"Can't," she said, shaking her head. "It's Thursday, remember?"

"Ah, that's right…" Ben said, pulling Julia into a hug. She knew he understood. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

The two parted ways, Julia saying her goodbyes to her teammates before finding her mom in the stands.

"You played so well, sweetie," her mom said, putting her arms around her daughter. "Your dad would be so proud."

"Thanks, mom," Julia said, smiling and giving her a hug. "I just wish he was here."

"I know, Jules. I do, too."

Although it got a little easier to bear over time, not having her father around still very much hurt Julia. Today was especially difficult, as it marked ten years exactly since his passing. There were so many milestones and memories throughout the past decade she wanted to share with him, but couldn't.

"Let's get going, it's already five o'clock and we need to get dinner started," her mom said, giving Julia's hand a squeeze. The two made their way to her mom's car, sitting in comfortable silence on the way home until Julia's mom cleared her throat.

"So… Any update on the college situation yet?"

Julia hated that question. Not because she didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do, even though it had taken her a while to figure it out. Julia hated it because it was a reminder that she would be leaving her only living parent alone at home. It made her feel so guilty inside. She had put off telling her mom about her decision for the past month, afraid of her potential reaction.

"Well… Remember how I told you that Ben got a really good lacrosse scholarship to Le Moyne? And how I got an offer from there, too…?" Julia began hesitantly.

"Yes?" Her mom asked, pulling into the driveway and putting the car in park.

"I'm... Going to go for it. I'm going to call them and make it official on Monday," Julia said, feeling her heart beating heavily in her chest. She was nervous to see how her mom would react. After a few seconds to take in the news, her mom gave a soft smile.

"I'm very proud of you for making that decision. And I want you to know that I'll always support you no matter what."

She felt so relieved that her mom wasn't freaking out on her. To her surprise, her mom actually gave a small laugh.

"...Although a part of me wishes you were going to the University of Washington so you could be closer. New York is a _really_ far drive."

"Don't worry, if I end up hating it at Le Moyne I'll come back to Washington, promise," Julia laughed too as they exited the car and went into the house to start dinner.

It was a tradition every year that on the anniversary of her father's death, Julia and her mom would remember him by cooking his favorite meal together and share memories of him to keep him alive in spirit. So on every May fourteenth, the two would make her mom's special oven roasted chicken with potatoes and vegetables. Once the pair got everything in the oven, they pulled out old photo books that Julia's mom had put together and sat down at the dining room table to reminisce as they waited for dinner to be done. The late afternoon sunlight filtered in through the window next to the table, falling on the pictures as the two of them flipped through the books. They looked through photographs of when Julia's parents were dating, their engagement, wedding, and then the many pictures that were taken after Julia was born.

"This is one of my favorite pictures," her mom said, pointing to one at the top left of the page.

The photograph was of a little Julia and her dad, standing on a dock hand-in-hand as the sun was setting over the water in the background. She looked just like him - warm bronze skin, chocolate colored eyes, and a head of thick, dark brown hair. She truly was her father's daughter.

"You were always daddy's little girl. He loved you so much."

"Tell me exactly how you guys met again," Julia said, smiling down at the picture.

"Well, I had just finished my bachelor's degree in education," her mom began. "I couldn't find a teaching job anywhere around Port Orchard..."

Julia had heard this story a handful of times, but it got better each time her mom told it. A friend of a friend knew of an opportunity and had suggested for her mom to apply for an open position teaching kindergarten. The only catch was, the school was situated in a little town called Neah Bay... All the way on the other side of the Olympic National Park on the Makah reservation.

"I was a little apprehensive about going so far from home. Besides that, I was an outsider. Clearly I'm not from any indigenous tribe," her mom said in a matter-of-fact voice, referring to her pale complexion, light brown hair, and hazel eyes. Julia looked almost nothing like her mother - if anything, they shared the same build and that was about it. When she started at her new school in Port Orchard after the accident, some of her teachers assumed she had been adopted.

"Anyways, I went, I did the interview, and they hired me on the spot. I fell in love with the town, and with the scenery. It was beautiful there."

Her mom thought she would stay for a few years, then try to find something else in a bigger town closer to where she grew up; somewhere where she would find a husband and start a family. However, as she always liked to say, life tends to give you what you're looking for where you least expect it.

"So I moved all my stuff into a tiny house that your grandma helped pay for. It was about a week before the school year was set to start and I had lots of setting up to do in my classroom. They were still doing maintenance work on the building."

"And dad was one of the guys working on it."

"Yes, yes he was. I'll never forget for as long as I live, he was up on a ladder, painting in the hallway. I walk by to go to my classroom and all of a sudden I hear a loud crash and then paint – paint was everywhere. All over the floors, and all over me. I was _livid,_ Jules."

Julia laughed along with her mom. "And then…"

"And then he gets down off of his ladder, apologizing. Of course I was not handling the situation very well. But you know what he does? The man asks me out on a date!"

"And you said?"

"I said hell no," Julia's mom chuckled. "But he sought me out asked me again every day until the school year started. He was very charming. On the last day, I said yes."

"And the rest is history."

"It sure is. We dated, got married, bought our first house on the Makah reservation, and had you," her mom said, taking Julia's hand in her own and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Life was good."

Julia smiled up at her mom, studying her face. Behind the small wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyes and mouth and the grey hairs popping up here and there, she could see the young woman her mother used to be. The young woman who had the perfect life, until that one fateful day in May ten years ago…

"I'm going to go check on the food, I'll be right back," Julia's mom stood up and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Julia to flip through the pictures on her own.

As her fingers traced over the images before her, she couldn't help but think back to life on the rez. It was simpler. Quieter. Everyone knew everything about each other and always looked out for one another. For the first eight years of her life, she had lived in Neah Bay on the Makah reservation. That was where she considered home to be, her place of birth and where most of her father's family lived. And he had lots of it – she had more aunts, uncles, and cousins than she could count on her two hands. Julia remembered seemingly endless summers spent being around them. She had been the closest to her cousin, Emily, who became more like the big sister she never had. The older girl was Julia's best friend, her mentor. The two did almost everything together. Julia's favorite thing to do with her cousin was spend hours at the beach, watching the waves roll in and combing the sand for treasures. She had once even gone on a trip with Emily down to La Push on the Quileute reservation, spending the day with Emily's maternal cousins Leah and Seth. Just like her mother, she had been living a perfect little life.

That all changed the day the police department showed up on their doorstep.

The fragments of this memory often haunted Julia in her nightmares, where she would relive the moment over and over again until she eventually woke up in a cold sweat. Some details were extremely vivid. In her mind's eye she could see the officer's face, mouth twisted into a frown as he approached her mother, who ordered her to go back inside the house. Obviously, being eight years old and a curious child, Julia didn't listen.

" _Heather Young?"_

" _Can I help you, officer?"_

" _It's your husband, Daniel. I'm afraid there's been a fishing accident, and…"_

Julia had never heard her mother cry like that. Old enough to comprehend the basics of what was going on, but too young to calmly process the information, Julia remembered how her whole body seemed to turn off and go numb. The next thing she knew, she was running. She did not stop until she reached the beach that she and Emily frequented to look for shells and other interesting things. Standing alone by water's edge and watching as the little waves rolled onto the shore, it was not until she became completely still that she allowed her tears to fall.

Lost in her memory, Julia didn't even hear her mother come back into the room.

"...Jules, I said dinner is ready. Help me set the table."

* * *

Relaxing in her bedroom after dinner, Julia picked up the phone and dialed Emily's number. It was one she had committed to memory; she talked to Emily at least once a week. No matter what, Emily was always there with an open mind and a listening heart.

"Hello?" Emily's soft voice sounded from the phone.

"Hey Em, it's Julia."

"Hey sweetie! How are you feeling today?" Emily very much knew what the day was and what it meant. After all, Julia's father was her uncle.

"I'm good. Great, actually. And you?"

"Better now that you called. I have so many wedding things on my mind and it's driving me nuts," Emily said, sighing through the phone. She was getting married in a little over a month to her longtime fiancé, Sam. "Tell me something exciting."

"The team won our game today. I scored the game winner."

"That's great, hun! I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Em. Your turn."

"Hmm… Sam and I picked up my wedding dress the other day from the tailor in Port Angeles. It's all ready for the big day! Oh, speaking of dresses… Did you get your bridesmaid dress yet?"

"I did."

"And it's blush pink, right?" Julia laughed a little at how specific Emily was.

"Yes, don't worry, Em," she reassured her cousin.

"I can't wait to see it. And you, of course."

"I can't wait to see you, too. I miss you."

"I miss you too, hun. Just a few short weeks and you'll be here. I'll take you down to First Beach and we can go treasure hunting just like we used to."

"That sounds like a plan to me."

Although she had moved back to her mother's hometown of Port Orchard after the accident, Julia would visit her family back in Neah Bay at least once a year up until the time she turned thirteen. By the time she started high school, she had become busy, picking up the sport of lacrosse and devoting much of her time to it. Emily had moved to the Quileute reservation around the same time anyways to live with Sam in La Push. Julia hadn't seen her in person since then, and felt that her visit was long overdue.

"Great," Emily said. "Well, I should probably be heading to bed soon. I have to get up early tomorrow to get out in the garden before it's supposed to rain."

"Alright. Goodnight, Em," Julia responded. "Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie. Goodnight."


	2. Chapter 2: Liar

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far! It's never expected, always appreciated. :)

I typically like the readers to take the descriptions of my characters and let their imaginations run with them, but I just wanted to put out there that when I'm writing Julia I always imagine her to look like the athlete Jude Schimmel.

This is kind of a long chapter, but an important one. Enjoy!

Suggested listening: Lies by Marina and the Diamonds (acoustic)

* * *

Chapter 2: Liar

Friday seemed to drag on and on for Julia, feeling like forever until she found herself in her last class of the day, Intro to U.S. Government. It didn't help at all that it was one of her least favorite subjects. She tried her best to tune out her teacher's absolutely _riveting_ lecture about the judicial process, thinking instead about her last regular season high school lacrosse game that was only a day away. Truth be told, the senioritis had set in way back before winter break and Julia was completely clocked out at this point. There was just one week left of classes, then the only thing separating her from freedom were exams, prom, and graduation.

At long last, the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Julia gathered her untouched textbook and notebook, then headed out the door as the afternoon announcements were made.

"Seniors, prom is only three weeks away. Do you have your ticket? Tickets are thirty dollars and can be purchased at…" Julia absentmindedly listened to the lady on the intercom. She already had her prom ticket. Her mind raced with excitement at the thought of finally going to prom – she had the perfect dress, the perfect group of friends to go with, and the perfect date, of course. She made her way down the halls toward her locker as the announcements continued.

"Graduation is Tuesday, June ninth. Seniors, don't forget to pick up your cap and gown and tickets to the ceremony no later than Friday, June fourth before prom," the voice over the intercom said. "Have a great weekend!"

Meandering through crowds of students, Julia finally made it to her locker. She had already cleaned out almost everything that wasn't a necessity, including all decorations and stray crumpled up sheets of looseleaf that somehow conglomerated at the bottom. All that remained were her textbooks and a few notebooks. Upon opening the locker door, a piece of paper folded tightly into a tiny triangle fluttered to the ground and landed at her feet. It was odd, Julia thought. The paper definitely wasn't there by accident. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her left ear, she bent down to retrieve it, intrigued as to what was inside. Upon unfolding the note, Julia's eyes skimmed over four simple words she found written in shorthand:

 _He's cheating on you._

Julia blinked a couple of times, not believing what she was reading. She went back over it a second time. A third time. On the fourth try, to her dismay, the sentence was still the same.

 _He's cheating on you. He's cheating on you. He's cheating on you._

Suddenly, Julia was hyperaware of every movement she made. Her bottom lip quivered as she slowly looked up, glancing at her surroundings to make sure no one was staring at her. She tried to calm her quick, shallow breathing, but someone sneaking up behind her made her jump.

"Nat," Julia said, clutching a hand to her heart. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry, Jules," Natalie said, an apologetic look in her eyes. She glanced down, noticing the note in Julia's hand. "What's that?"

"Nothing, it's nothing…"

Knowing better than to believe her best friend's unconvincing tone of voice, Natalie snatched the piece of paper from Julia before she had a second to protest. It was for her own good, Natalie decided.

"It's definitely something if you're saying _that_ …" Natalie's heart dropped when she saw what was written. "Where did you find this?"

"In my locker, just now."

The girls were silent for a minute, studying the words closely.

"Do you know whose handwriting this is?" Julia asked. She really hoped Natalie knew, so she could confront them. She had a lot of questions for this person.

"No idea. I'm sorry."

Julia looked her friend dead in the eyes, feeling her own start to get misty. She did everything in her power to keep any tears from falling. Julia refused to cry in public, for fear of people seeing her at her most vulnerable.

"What does this mean…? What do I do now, Nat…?"

"The only thing you can do is talk to him," Natalie advised. She was right, Julia had to admit. Before she could change her mind, Julia turned around quickly and jogged down the hall, dodging fellow students on her way to her boyfriend's locker by the gym.

"I didn't mean talk to him right this very _second!_ " Natalie exclaimed, chasing after her friend. She caught up as they rounded the corner, spotting Ben alone. This was Julia's chance. The two made eye contact as she walked up to him, and he gave her a warm grin. Ben seemed a lot happier to see her than she was to see him.

"Hey Jules, Nat," he greeted them. "What's up?"

The energy was awkward between them, at least to Julia. Feeling only partially in control of her actions, Julia took Ben by the arm and pulled him into the empty gymnasium to talk privately, leaving Natalie outside. She took in a big gulp of air and faced him. Trembling slightly, she held up the folded note she had found in her locker.

"What's up? More like what is _this_?" She asked, refusing to look at his face.

"Uh… A piece of paper," Ben said, not quite understanding why Julia seemed so shaken up.

"No! I mean, yes. But no," Julia said. She shook her head, realizing she wasn't making any sense. After unfolding the note, she thrust it into his hands. "Just read it."

Ben read the lone sentence multiple times just as Julia had, pursing his lips at the words sank in. He was quiet.

"Who wrote this thing?" was all Ben could think to say, finally breaking the silence. He turned the note over in his hands to find that the rest was blank.

"If I knew, do you think I'd be asking you about it? All I want to know is if it's true or not. Are you cheating on me?"

"Jules," Ben said, reaching for one of her hands to hold. Julia took a step back. "No. Of course I'm not cheating on you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Julia finally found the nerve to look at him. His blue eyes looked sincere, but something inside of her told her that he was lying.

"I think we need to have a talk about this," Julia said, softening her gaze for the first time since the interaction began.

"We can," Ben said, giving the paper back to her. "Just not until after my game today. I'll give you a call later, okay?"

"Okay."

Ben placed a hand on Julia's shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before exiting the gym.

Julia stood there for a while, still processing the conversation she just had. Gathering up her thoughts, she brought herself to leave the gym. To her surprise, Natalie was still outside in the hallway waiting for her.

"You good?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine. Let's go to practice."

The girls made their way to the locker room in silence.

* * *

After the lacrosse team's hour and a half long practice, Julia went straight home and waited. And waited. And waited… Ben told her that he would call. But with each passing hour, it became even more apparent that she wouldn't be having a conversation with him that night. She sent him a text message, a simple _'can we talk now'_ , as her Hail Mary. Despite her effort, she fell asleep without hearing anything back from her boyfriend.

Before she knew it, Julia found herself dressed for the last regular season home game of her high school lacrosse career. She tried her best to be in the moment, to enjoy her time on the field, but her efforts were futile. During the pre-game ceremony for her and the five other seniors on the team, she looked among the crowd. She could see her mother taking pictures from the center of the stands, and the faces of some of her friends from the men's team. Ben, however, was not with them. Her instincts told her that something just wasn't right, but she tried her best to ignore them for the time being. She had a game to play.

Usually on the field Julia would be focused, calm, and ready for any situation. Today, she just couldn't seem to keep it together. She felt sluggish, hesitant. Her thoughts about why Ben wasn't at the game were running rampant through her head, leading to many lost opportunities and missed connections. She had managed a goal and an assist early in the game and had some shot opportunities in the second quarter, but her performance steadily got worse. The South Kitsap Wolves were trailing by three goals, and nothing Julia did seemed to be helping. For the first time in a long time, with five minutes remaining in the game, the coach motioned for Julia to come off the field during a stoppage in play. Julia made her way off, metaphorical tail hanging between her legs as she prepared herself for what her coach might say.

"What's going on out there, Julia?" her coach said. She sounded disappointed. Julia didn't say anything at first, shaking her head instead and mentally chiding herself for letting things get so bad. She was the captain, and she felt guilty for letting the team down.

"Off day, coach," she finally responded, her gaze stone cold as she watched her teammate Bailey run in to take her place. She knew things were hopeless if her coach was sending the sophomore in to play attack. Needless to say, Bailey didn't usually get a lot of playing time.

Julia stood on the sidelines, watching as her teammates battled it out with the opposing team. The teams were deadlocked it seemed; neither side scored another goal for the remainder of the game. With a final score of 11-8, the Wolves accepted defeat. Julia, knowing that she wasn't going back onto the field, had already packed up her things. The announcer echoed the final score for everyone to hear.

"The South Kitsap Wolves will be back in action for the division quarterfinals on Tuesday in an away game at…"

She blocked out the voice of the announcer, giving her attention to her coach as she said some final words about the game.

"...I need to see more of a group effort from you ladies," she said, making it a point to make eye contact with each of the girls. "We have to hold each other accountable out there as well as support each other. Think pack mentality here. _We_ are the South Kitsap Wolves. And if you ever forget that, just think about the school's motto. What is it?"

"The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack," Julia and her teammates said in unison.

"That's right. See you at practice on Monday."

* * *

"Honestly, Nat… I don't want to go tonight."

Julia and Natalie sat in a booth at their favorite restaurant, a quirky hole-in-the-wall eatery called That One Place. The girls were enjoying their usual breakfast for dinner orders – a stack of the restaurant's famous giant pancakes.

"What do you mean you don't want to go? It's our senior bonfire. We kind of have to."

Julia sighed and took another large bite of her chocolate chip pancakes. She didn't _have_ to go to the bonfire, but she knew that it would probably be the last time the two teams would hang out together before they graduated and went their separate ways.

"I just don't know. After what happened yesterday with Ben and then the game today…"

"You're being too hard on yourself, Jules. We all have bad days."

"Yeah, but team captains can't afford to have bad days. Especially when they want to play college lacrosse on a scholarship," Julia said. She had told Natalie the day she decided for sure she would go to Le Moyne with Ben. Now, after finding out her boyfriend could possibly be cheating on her, she didn't know what was going to happen as far as college was concerned.

"Well, have you heard anything from Ben yet?"

Julia shook her head. Natalie frowned.

"This isn't right. If he's so innocent, why is he playing mind games like this?" she said indignantly.

"That's what I keep thinking about, Nat. It's eating me alive."

Natalie sighed in frustration.

"I can't stand seeing you like this. We're going to the bonfire, and you're gonna talk to him," Natalie said in a firm tone. "He can't avoid you forever. I mean, as far as we all know, you're still his girlfriend. And if he's not there, then you're just going to enjoy yourself and worry about him later. You can't let him run your life, Julia."

"Ugh. Fine."

Deep down, Julia knew her friend was right. She couldn't let Ben get in the way of her happiness like this, especially when she didn't even know the full truth.

The two girls finished up their meals, paid, and left.

* * *

When Julia and Natalie walked up to Cory's house, the bonfire was in full swing and most of the people on both teams had arrived already. They were greeted by a small group of men's lacrosse players standing by a large cooler as they walked around to the back of the house.

"Jules, Nat," one of them said, pulling two cans of beer from the cooler and handing them to the girls. "Heard you weren't coming. Glad to see you changed your mind."

"How could we miss it?" Natalie said while they cracked open the cans. Julia rarely ever drank alcohol, but she decided to make an exception for tonight. It was her last lacrosse bonfire of her high school career, and she wanted to have a good time.

"Hey, is Ben here yet?" Julia asked the guys as she took a sip of the beer. They looked at each other and back to her, shaking their heads.

"No idea."

"Haven't seen him."

"Right," Julia said wistfully, sighing. "Well, when you see him, let him know I'm looking for him, okay?"

The guys nodded and the girls turned to walk toward the fire that was burning in the fire pit at the center of Cory's large backyard. Julia just wanted to put what had happened on Friday out of her head and enjoy the company of her friends, but the thought of Ben not being here nagged at the back of her mind. Where else would he possibly be on the night of the bonfire? He had been excited about it, talking it up the whole week. For him to not show up seemed out of character.

"Jules, I can tell you're still thinking about him. Don't."

"Easier said than done. Kind of hard to ignore being told that your boyfriend is cheating on you."

"He isn't important right now," Natalie said, taking a sip of her beer then intertwining her arm with Julia's. "Just live in the moment tonight, okay?"

Julia could feel the warmth radiating from the flames as they walked closer to the fire. The guys were scattered around the yard, some talking in groups amongst themselves and some sitting at the fire. A majority of their teammates were sitting around it too, huddled together in chairs or on blankets. When they saw the girls approaching, they excitedly called out their greetings.

"Jules, Nat, you made it!"

"We thought you weren't gonna show up!"

The girls hugged their teammates, then sat down on a blanket after room was made for them. Snacks were passed around as the girls returned to their conversation.

"I'm still pissed that one girl whacked me in the face with her stick and didn't even get a yellow card," their teammate Danielle exclaimed. "It's like the refs saw right through it."

Julia looked down into the fire, taking a large chug of her beer and trying not to think about Ben. But the words from the note kept popping back into her head: _He's cheating on you. He's cheating on you._

Julia and Ben hadn't spoken since she asked him about the note yesterday, and Julia didn't want the silence to last any longer. She just wanted to talk to him again, to make sure everything was alright. Above all else, she longed with all her heart to believe Ben. They were so happy together. At least, that's what she thought… They _were_ happy, right? There was no reason for him to be cheating on her.

"Didn't help that the refs were making stupid calls the whole game," their other teammate Christine said.

"Guys… Let's not dwell on one bad game going into the quarterfinals," Julia spoke up timidly. There was a slight pause, then a few of the girls murmured in agreement.

"You're right, captain," Christine supported Julia's sentiment. "Gotta stay positive."

"Well then, I say we get this party going," Danielle said, fetching a handful of beers. "Who wants to shotgun with me?"

A couple of the guys sitting around the fire stood up immediately, volunteering themselves. Danielle distributed the cans, then turned to face Julia.

"Come on, captain. You should relax. Loosen up a bit," she said, tossing over a beer. Julia laughed to herself.

"I haven't even finished the first one yet," she tried to protest.

"That's not an excuse," Danielle said. "Finish your other one and let's do this."

"Only if Nat does it, too," Julia said, standing up.

"Oh, come on Jules!" her friend exclaimed as Julia downed what was left of the open can. "Ugh, alright. Hand me one."

One of the guys punched holes in the sides of the cans for them, and their teammates counted down.

"Cheers," Natalie said, clinking the bottom of her can to that of Julia's. Julia admitted to herself that she was a little nervous. She had never done this before, only watched previously as some of her friends competed for bragging rights.

"Three.. Two… One…" they chanted. "Drink!"

Julia closed her eyes and touched the can to her lips, then cracked open the top. Downing the beer as fast as she possibly could, she couldn't help but feel like it was taking forever. When she finished, she immediately gasped for air, letting the empty can fall from her hands to the ground. She opened her eyes to find that everyone else was a pace behind her, garnering a small round of applause from those watching.

"Shit, Julia," one of the guys said, chuckling. "Had a bit of practice?"

Julia shook her head, laughing and wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her sweater. She watched as Danielle and Natalie finished their cans.

"Oh captain, my captain," Danielle laughed, grabbing two more cans. "How about a rematch? You and Cory."

Cory, the gracious host, stood up from his spot and took one of the cans from Danielle. He was notorious for being the men's lacrosse team's fastest drinker.

"I don't know Dani, I've already had two and I don't drink much…" Julia wanted to pace herself. Besides, she was starting to feel the first two. Danielle stood there, with one eyebrow raised and a hand outstretched, urging her to take the beer.

"I can't believe I'm doing this again," Julia shook her head and grabbed the can. Holes were punctured, and the countdown began again. She closed her eyes as the cold liquid hit her tongue. She was really getting sick of the taste of beer. Listening to the cheers of her teammates, she tried her best, but it wasn't enough to outdrink Cory. She wasn't surprised; no one could.

"You almost had it," Natalie said to make her friend feel a little better. She helped Julia sit down once again.

Julia was buzzed at this point, but it felt nice. She sat with her friends, laughing and talking and living in the moment. Drinking had put the whole Ben situation out of her mind for the time being and for once today, she wasn't worrying about it. Not even twenty minutes had passed, however, and she was tugging on Natalie's sleeve.

"Bathroom," she said quietly to her friend. Nodding, Natalie helped her up.

"We'll be right back," Natalie said to the group, leading Julia across the open lawn and up to the house.

They entered in the back door and went through the kitchen, where a couple of guys from the men's team were hanging out. The girls could hear music coming from the living room as they got closer, passing through it and saying hello to their teammates and friends from the men's team who were sitting inside, including some of Ben's close friends. Julia, her eyesight a little fuzzy, didn't even notice that Ben wasn't among them. Rounding the corner of the hallway, they saw that the bathroom door at the end was slightly ajar with the light left on.

"You go ahead, I'll wait for you out here," Natalie said, letting Julia walk ahead of her.

"Okay," Julia grinned. "Thanks for being such a great friend, Nat."

"You're welcome, Jules," Natalie chuckled, crossing her arms and leaning into a spot on the wall.

Julia made her way over to the bathroom, her head feeling slightly dizzy. She never realized how much of a lightweight she was. Good thing she was figuring this out before college, she managed to cohesively think to herself. Not thinking to knock first, she immediately pushed the door open. What she saw inside, however, made her stop dead in her tracks.

Julia felt a rush of heat rise from the tips of her toes and course through every part of her body, stopping to rest on her cheeks which were already flushed from the alcohol. She blinked a few times, taking in the scene before her. Ben, _her_ Ben, stood in the middle of the bathroom, his body intertwined with that of her teammate, Bailey. His lips had been on hers, his tongue more than likely inside of her mouth. Julia's eyes trailed down his right arm to his hand, which was on Bailey's chest. As soon as Julia entered, their heads snapped up to look at the person who intruded on their little rendezvous. She saw Ben's eyes widen in shock, clearly at a loss of what to do. Bailey immediately averted her gaze, pushing herself out of Ben's arms.

"Jules," Ben said, removing himself from Bailey and turning to face his girlfriend. "Let me explain."

Julia's mouth opened slightly, but she didn't say a word. She felt like her voice had been stolen from her. Instead, she backed up a step before turning and bolting down the hallway past Natalie, leaving Ben and Bailey in the bathroom to deal with what had just transpired.

Julia couldn't feel her legs moving, or her ragged breathing as she ran through the house, out the back door, and into the street. All she felt was the burning in her cheeks and the thumping of her heart against her chest as her body's fight-or-flight response kicked in the way it knew best: fleeing. Despite not knowing where she was going, she kept running. For a moment, she felt like she was eight years old again, running away from the painful news of her father's death. It wasn't until she finally stopped under a light on a random side street that the full realization of what she had just seen hit her. Julia collapsed, letting sobs ravage her body. Hot tears streamed down her face as she sat there, alone in the silence of the night.

It wasn't long before she heard a set of footsteps approaching her, along with the labored breaths of the person who had been following her.

"Jeez, you are so fast," Natalie said, sitting down next to her friend and wrapping an arm around her. "Why do you always make me chase after you, huh?"

Julia still couldn't find any words to speak of what she had witnessed. She felt weak. Numb. Burying her face in her friend's shoulder, she cried on the side of the road for what felt like an eternity. If she weren't so devastated and slightly intoxicated, she would have thought the whole situation was ridiculous.

"H-how much… What did you see?" she finally found the willpower to ask in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Everything," Natalie said flatly. "More than I wanted to see, believe me."

The two sat in silence for a while as Julia calmed down enough to stand. Natalie helped her to her feet, then pulled her friend into a hug.

"Come on. Let's just go back to my house," she said, leading Julia back up the dimly lit street.


	3. Chapter 3: Subsist

A/N: Hey guys! Thank you all for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing! It makes my day to see that people are enjoying what I've written so far.

Suggested listening: Defeated by Bad Suns

* * *

Chapter 3: Subsist

Embry's eyes popped open as the shrill buzzing of his alarm sounded throughout his room.

Letting out a groan, he rolled over and shut it off. Last night had been a long night. Lately he'd been getting assigned to the night patrol shifts, where time seemed to move so slowly that it pretty much bordered on torture. As usual, he came home late, and also as usual, he found his mother up waiting for him. She had a few choice words that he tried his best to let go in one ear and out the other. When she was done with him, he took a quick shower and collapsed into bed, preparing to do it all over again tomorrow. This had been his routine for the past five years, and it was just as exhausting now as it had been when he first started phasing.

It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. Embry was supposed to meet Jake and Quil at the shop to hang out and finish up some work on his new dirt bike, and he was already late. Quickly hopping out of bed, he set out on the search for something - anything - semi-clean to wear. Making a mental note to do laundry the next time he was home, he pulled on a generic white t-shirt, pair of jeans, and work boots. Fixing any stray pieces of hair with his fingers, he took a deep breath before cracking open his bedroom door. Embry emerged quietly, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible in order to avoid another confrontation with his mom. To his frustration, he could hear her moving around in the kitchen. There was no way he could slip out without her noticing. Preparing himself, he crept silently into the room. Although she had her back turned to him, making herself something to eat for lunch, she could sense his presence behind her.

"Are you _ever_ planning on telling me where you run off to late at night?" she asked in a slightly acidic voice, just as he anticipated. Tiffany Call was an expert at prying.

"I was… Out."

 _Out._ He was always _out._ Embry never bothered to come up with a cover story, seeing as his mom would find a way to fact check it to oblivion and eventually determine that he was lying. Despite the rest of the pack trying to get Sam to let him tell his mom about the whole werewolf thing, he always refused. It was better to say nothing at all than to tell her his secret and potentially put her life in jeopardy. She just assumed that he was always out underage drinking or doing miscellaneous reckless things with his friends, anyways. Not like that really mattered anymore, especially now that he had turned twenty one a little over a week ago. That simply meant his mother would be on his case just as much, but for different reasons.

" _Embry, you are an adult. When are you going to get a job? You'll have to move out eventually. I'm not providing for you forever. And when are you going to finish your education? I can't believe you dropped out of high school in your senior year. All for what, Embry?"_

The worst part was knowing that it took a heavy emotional toll on her. Embry knew that she blamed herself for whatever seemed to be wrong with her son. He wanted very much to reassure her that she wasn't at fault. If anyone was to blame, he liked to think it was the father he didn't know. After all, it was his father's Quileute genes that got him into this whole mess in the first place.

"Ahh, I see," she said, turning around and giving him a stern look. "And will you be _out_ again tonight?"

"Yeah…"

"Mhm," was all she said, turning her back to him. Embry hovered for a second, unsure of whether or not it was safe to leave. He was about to head out the door when his mom turned around again and continued her monologue from last night.

"Embry, this rebellious stage is getting old. Very old. You've been twenty one for a little over a week now and it's about damn time you started acting like it. I'm sick of you coming and going at all hours of the night with no explanation other than that you're going _out._ I don't know where you are. I don't know who you're with. Or even what you're _doing_ for that matter! As long as you're living under _my_ roof, that is unacceptable. You're old enough to get a job and fend for yourself now; I don't have to accommodate you, you know. I don't have to provide for you, and…"

These were all things Embry had heard plenty of times before. He had more than an adequate amount of practice at just standing there and taking it silently.

He waited for her to pause, then said, "I'm sorry, Mom, I really am. But I have to go."

"Don't bother coming back!"

Embry could see tears forming in her dark eyes, but he forced himself out the door. Deep down, he knew she didn't mean what she just said. He knew he would come home during the early hours of the morning again and the next day when he woke up, everything would be just as it had been before, like he was the main character in his personal version of _Groundhog Day_.

That was a perfect way to describe his life, Embry thought to himself as he made the short trip on foot to the shop. Every day felt like it was the same one being played over and over again. Wake up, see his fellow pack members, eat, patrol, get yelled at by his mom, go to bed... And repeat. Embry felt as if his life had become hollow, lacking meaning or direction. Sure, he had his mom (despite her wariness of him) and his friends who he cared about. He had his hobbies like fixing bikes and playing guitar to fill his time. Still, he felt defeated. Something was missing from the big picture. He needed the motivation to do something _more_ with his life.

Entering the old, beat up building that housed the guys' workshop, he saw Jake and Quil focused intently on one of Jake's current projects. Embry always enjoyed hanging out with them here; it gave his life some semblance of normalcy. Being at the shop reminded him of a time when werewolves and vampires were just a part of story books instead of a part of his reality. Upon hearing him come in, Jacob and Quil greeted him with sarcasm.

"Hey, look who decided to show up," Jake said, smirking.

"It's about time," agreed Quil.

"Sorry… Late night," Embry walked over to his bike, looking it over to find where he left off.

"I can only imagine," Jake said, turning back to his own bike. "I'm sure no amount of sleep can help anyone recover from a night shift with Leah."

The guys laughed in agreement. Leah was no little ray of sunshine. With Sam and Emily's wedding day approaching quickly, she was even more miserable than usual. Not only was she upset because of the wedding itself, but because she was Leah, she also worked herself up over petty things like having to wear a pink bridesmaid dress. The whole pack, save for Sam, knew very well about her distaste for the event by now. It was hard to ignore her intense negative thoughts while in wolf-form, and it was really beginning to test everyone's patience.

"She's gotta let it go. Just for one night," Quil said, walking over to a mini fridge in the corner and grabbing three beers. Being shape-shifters, alcohol didn't affect them anymore, but it wouldn't be a Saturday at the shop without it. "I don't think Emily would ever forgive her if she ruined her wedding."

"Right. I'm just glad I don't have to listen to her bitch anymore," Jake said, taking one of the bottles from Quil.

Jake was lucky in that respect. While Seth and Leah had rejoined Sam's pack after briefly leaving three years ago, Jacob had not returned, meaning he no longer shared any telepathic link with the rest of the Quileute shape-shifters. He remained a lone wolf after the tensions between his pack and Sam's were resolved, as to not create any more drama over who should be alpha. Besides, he spent most of his time with the Cullens anyways, to be close to his imprint. It was much easier for him to be an ally of the pack than a part of it. He was still welcome around the members of Sam's pack, though, for which Embry was grateful. Embry didn't want to lose his best friend again.

"Ya know Quil, you and I might have some weird imprint circumstances, but at least it's not as messed up as _that_ whole love triangle…"

"I don't know man, your's is pretty messed up too once you think about it," Quil reminded Jacob with a smirk, going over to Embry and handing him a beer. Embry remained quiet, cracking open the bottle and taking a sip from it as his friends continued to talk about their imprints, their conversation quickly going from joking to softhearted. He thought absentmindedly about how before they had found Renesmee and Claire, they never used to to be so sentimental. Well, Jacob had his moments, but for the most part they stayed away from expressing those kinds of emotions.

He knew he was different than they were, naturally more sensitive and empathetic. As long as Embry could remember, he had always been more in-touch with feelings than his peers, his own and those of others. Sometimes he hated it, sometimes he thought of it as an advantage. Often Embry would find himself studying the people around him to gauge their emotions: the way they talked, their body language, how they interacted with each other... Just like he was doing right now with Jacob and Quil.

The two of them, still talking about Renesmee and Claire, were smiling like idiots. They were relaxed, with no tension held in their posture whatsoever. There was a sparkle in their eyes that wasn't there when they were talking about anything else. They looked… Happy. Completely and utterly happy.

Embry couldn't lie to himself, it was hard being around the five of his friends who had already imprinted, constantly hearing about how amazing life was with their soul mates. As the most senior member of the I-haven't-imprinted-yet club, Embry had almost convinced himself that it would never happen to him. He would never admit it to his friends, but sometimes he believed that this was what was missing from his life. Relying on someone else to make him happy seemed kind of selfish, he realized, but at least having an imprint would give him a purpose other than running around as a horse-sized wolf half the time. If the rest of his pack found out just how much the idea of it crossed his mind when his thoughts weren't on display for them, Embry was sure he'd never hear the end of it.

"I think this is Embry's year," Quil said out of nowhere, catching Embry off guard. He had gone back to working on his bike silently, no longer paying attention to their conversation.

"My year for what?"

"You know what."

Embry shook his head at his friend's comment, amused.

"Who knows," he said, taking his eyes off the bike only to search for another tool to use. "Not banking on it, though."

"It will happen when you least expect it," Jacob said, giving Quil a knowing look. "Trust me on that."

"I'm just not that worried about it."

 _Lie._

"Not worried about it?" Quil asked.

"I mean… Like it's not something that crosses my mind a lot."

 _Also a lie._

"Bullshit," Jake laughed. "You probably have a handful of love songs memorized and ready to play on that old guitar of yours if it happens tomorrow."

"She'd be all yours in no time. Chicks dig guitars; instant turn-on," added Quil.

Embry shook his head, but he couldn't help but chuckle. Jacob and Quil always knew how to cheer him up. This is why they were his best friends.

"Maybe it will be my year, then."

* * *

Later that night after dinner at Sam and Emily's house, Embry found himself in one of the worst possible situations he could think of: stuck out in the rain on patrol with Leah. She had been sulking for the first few hours of their shift. Embry tried his best to ignore her, not daring to reach his thoughts out to strike up a conversation. The clouds overhead somehow made the night even darker than usual, and the rain came down mercilessly, soaking Embry to the bone. Not only would he be coming home at a strange hour yet again, he would have to come home smelling like wet dog. That would be fun to explain to his mom.

As he trotted through the forest, more mud sticking to his paws with each step, Embry thought of the conversation… No, it wasn't a conversation, that would mean he had actually gotten a few words in edgewise… The _confrontation_ he had with his mother earlier that day. He remembered the hurt look in her eyes, how she told him not to come back. What if she really _was_ going to kick him out one of these days?

Embry knew he had places to go if that happened. Emily and Sam would take him in without a second thought, and so would Billy Black. He would hate to have to resort to that, though. Although he knew they would probably insist, Embry didn't want to be a burden on them the same way that he seemed to be a burden on his mom.

 _You know, if you ever need a place to crash for the night… My couch is always open. That is, if you don't mind an early morning wake-up call from Seth._

Embry didn't even notice that Leah had stopped her depressing inner monologue long enough to pay attention to his thoughts. Needless to say, he was shocked.

 _Thanks, Leah. That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me._

Embry could practically feel Leah rolling her eyes.

 _Yeah, and I can take it back just as fast as I offered it._

 _Really though,_ Embry thought seriously, not wanting to offend her when she was in one of her moods. _Thank you. I might have to take you up on that sometime._

The two were silent for a while, with Embry keeping a steady pace as he approached where the forest met the coastline. Things were pretty comfortable until Leah piped up again.

 _Embry?_

 _Yes?_

 _I'm really… Sorry. That you have to go through that almost every day. You don't deserve it._

If Embry thought he was shocked before, he was completely blown away now. Leah, sympathizing? Was he being punked?

 _It's fine. I'm used to it._

 _I'm not stupid, I can hear your thoughts. Don't act like it doesn't bother you._

Embry didn't reply. The thought of having what was basically a heart-to-heart with Leah seemed too… Weird. Still, she pressed him some more.

 _Why haven't you told your mom about everything?_ She asked. _Sam has said time and time again that he would cut you some slack. Maybe it would help._

 _This secret is too important,_ Embry thought with a sense of duty. _Plus if I told her the gene for becoming a shape-shifter is only passed down through Quileute blood... It might lead to the whole who-is-my-father conversation. Not exactly my idea of a fun time._

 _...But don't you ever want to know who your dad is?_

This was something that Embry had thought about his entire life. Up until he started phasing, he thought that his father had left him and his mom to fend for themselves, or that maybe he was dead. His mom simply never talked about him, even when Embry asked. However, as soon as he began turning into a wolf and learning the origins of those ancient powers, he knew that his speculations were all false. His father had to be a Quileute; one from the bloodlines that contained the magic required in order to phase. This would have been a non-issue had all of these men not been happily married at the time Embry was born.

After a brief pause, Embry answered truthfully.

 _No._

 _No?_

 _No. I don't want to know. It's better off that way for everyone._

Embry knew Leah could understand why he would think that way. If the truth came out and it wasn't what everyone expected, a lot of people could potentially get hurt.

 _Okay. Just one more thing. It's stupid, though... Then I'll stop bothering you. God, I feel like Seth with all of these questions…_

Embry laughed at her last thought.

 _What's up?_

 _Well, the whole pack sees me as pathetic, miserable Leah, right?_

Embry hated how that sounded when she said it.

 _Hey, we don't all think of you like that-_

 _Look, I know I'm a bit melodramatic at times,_ Leah thought, cutting him off. _I take my anger out on everyone else even though I know I shouldn't. I can't help it._

 _Your point?_

 _But you…_ She continued. _You're different._

 _Explain._

 _Well for starters, you have a dead-beat dad and that just sucks no matter what._

 _Right…_

Embry was a little shocked at how blunt she was being. He had no idea where this was going.

 _Your mom is on your ass for every little thing, plus you have all the stress of being in the pack._

 _Yeah?_

Embry felt awkward. He wasn't used to Leah being this… Raw.

 _Well… All of that, and not once have I ever heard you complain. And that's amazing._

Her tone was completely sincere, opposite of her usual bitter, sarcastic one. Embry struggled to find the right words to say to her. After a while, he settled on a simple phrase.

 _...Thank you._

 _Mhm._

The two finished the rest of their shift in silence. Not comfortable, not awkward. Just silence.


	4. Chapter 4: Paradise Lost

A/N: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while! Life got crazy celebrating Canada Day and Fourth of July, then I went on vacation for a while so I wasn't able to sit down and write or edit anything for pretty much a week and a half. I apologize if this chapter seems all over the place, I tried to get it out relatively quickly when I came back. Time goes by a little fast but I felt like it was time to get a move-on, haha.

Suggested listening: Cruel World by Phantogram, Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups, Sound of Walking Away by Illenium

* * *

 _"I've been waiting... I've been waiting for this moment all my life, but it's not quite right."_

Chapter 4: Paradise Lost

"Good morning, sunshine."

Julia blinked her eyes open slowly as she regained awareness of her body. She realized she was in Natalie's bedroom, curled up beneath the blankets on her friend's bed. The pitter patter of rain falling outside was the only noise that filled the room as Julia sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Natalie was sitting at the foot of the bed, scrolling through social media on her mobile phone. Everything seemed calm.

"What time is it?" Julia asked softly with a yawn.

"About eleven o'clock in the morning," Natalie replied with her attention still on her phone.

"Oh," was all Julia said, stretching her back a little. There was a long moment of silence again as she peered out the window next to Natalie's bed. The sky was slightly overcast, and the rain was coming down in a light drizzle. It was the epitome of a lazy Sunday morning. Natalie put down her phone and broke the silence, bringing Julia back to real life.

"Wanna talk about what happened last night?"

Julia hadn't been awake yet long enough to process what had transpired, or to even remember it in detail for that matter. In fact, she could have gone all day pretending like it didn't even happen had Natalie not said anything to remind her of it. The images played over in her head like a movie scene… Ben kissing Bailey. His hands all over her. The way he looked at her when she walked in. Julia closed her eyes, forbidding herself to start crying again.

"Not really."

"Well… Everyone knows already. I woke up to about fifteen text messages asking if you were okay, including one from Ben."

"Great…"

"I just told him to fuck off."

It almost scared Julia to know how fast word had travelled concerning what had happened with Ben. She assumed that everyone from both teams probably knew about it by now, and come tomorrow most of the student body at South Kitsap would know, too. Julia groaned, collapsing back down into the bed and covering her face with her hands. She was _not_ looking forward to being at the center of the rumor mill.

"Can I just sleep for the rest of senior year and have the school mail me my diploma…?" Julia said, her voice muffled by her palms.

"No," Natalie said, gently taking her friend's hands in her own and pulling her up into a sitting position once again. "You are going to get through exams, go to prom with me and the girls, and walk across that stage at graduation even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming. And I would if it came down to it."

"I know you would…"

"But first, we're going to make some brunch before I get hangry. Okay?"

At this point, what other choice did Julia really have but to get through these last few weeks of high school? After graduation, she would never have to see Ben again if she didn't want to… And she didn't.

Julia nodded, slowly getting up out of bed and following her friend downstairs to the kitchen.

After another famous Natalie pep talk over a large plate of bacon, eggs, and toast, Julia found herself back at home around noon. Her mother's car wasn't in the driveway. Julia figured she must be out running errands, and for that she was thankful. She still had to figure out how she was going to tell her mom that her and Ben were as good as over. Heading upstairs and entering her room, she collapsed onto her bed. She made the mistake of looking around, her eyes catching sight of all of the pictures of her and Ben that she had placed in the room. Julia could feel her eyes start to well up. This time, completely alone, she allowed herself to break down and let the tears fall.

Why had this happened to her? Everything had been going so well. Julia finally felt like her life was starting to fall into place. She had laid out her future perfectly, setting everything in stone only to have it crumble to pieces within the span of two days.

On one hand, there was so much that she was now uncertain of. On the other, there were pretty much only three things in her life that were true at this point. The first was that she would be an emotional wreck until school was over. The second was that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to avoid seeing _him_ everywhere, or avoid everyone trying to pry into her personal business like it was nothing. And the third was that she had no idea how to handle any of it. Sure, she had experience with romance gone awry. Ben was hardly her first boyfriend. However, he had been her first serious boyfriend… And the first boyfriend to seriously betray her by cheating on her. She needed advice.

Julia picked up the phone and called the one person who could get her through anything. She was still sobbing as she listened to the ringing on the other end.

 _Please pick up, please pick up…_

"Hello?" a deep masculine voice said, catching Julia off guard.

"I-Is Emily there?" she asked in between tears.

"May I ask who's calling…?" the man said hesitantly.

"It's her cousin. Julia."

Julia heard a few shuffling noises as the phone changed hands, then the familiar voice of Emily Young sounded through the receiver.

"Julia, sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, sounding concerned. Whoever had answered the phone must have told her that Julia sounded upset.

Julia told Emily about everything that had happened in the past two days: the note, her confrontation with Ben, how he managed to avoid her, and finally the events of the bonfire. By the time she was through, she was out of tears to cry. She just felt numb all over again.

"Jules… I'm so sorry..."

"What should I do, Em…?" she said, feeling pathetic that she had to rely on her friend and her cousin as her emotional crutches.

"You just need to get through these next couple of weeks with your head held up high," Emily said firmly yet in a reassuring tone. "You're a strong girl, and it's easy to see that he's a scumbag. You are not in the wrong here, remember that."

"Thank you, Em."

"You're welcome, hun," Emily said. She was quiet for a second, and Julia could sense that she had gotten an idea. "What are you doing the rest of this summer?"

"Why…?" Julia asked apprehensively.

"You need to get out of Port Orchard for a little bit longer than two weeks. It would do you some good after this whole Ben fiasco," Emily explained. "I want you to stay with me in La Push through July."

"Are you crazy, Emily? A month and a half? I couldn't impose on you for that long."

"It's not imposing if I'm inviting you and insisting that you stay, Jules," Emily said, chuckling. Well, she wasn't wrong...

"Aren't you going on a honeymoon after the wedding, though?"

"Not until after the summer is over. Sam has a few… Ah, loose ends to tie up before we go anywhere."

"I guess that's fair."

"So you'll stay?" Emily pressed. Julia sighed.

"...Sure. What could go wrong?"

The two wrapped up their conversation and Julia laid back down, thinking about being in La Push for a month and a half. It would be nice to spend that time with her cousin before she left for college, once she figured out exactly what was happening with that again… Maybe she could even take the drive up to Neah Bay some time to visit the rest of her extended family. It would be a relaxing extended vacation from her worries, she tried to convince herself.

Looking out her bedroom window, Julia saw the rain still hadn't let up. All that was left to do on this gloomy Sunday was to return to her abandoned schoolwork and mentally prepare for what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Getting through the last week of classes went just about as well as Julia had imagined it would go. Taking Emily's advice was proving to be a lot harder than it should have been, as she dodged question after question from her teammates about what exactly had happened on Saturday night. Julia didn't want to think about it anymore, let alone talk about it. Silence became her best friend as she retreated into herself, her mind stuck in a fog while going through the motions as each day passed.

On Monday at practice, Julia and the rest of her teammates received the news that Bailey had left the team.

"So… She just peaced out? Quit?" Christine had asked their coach, who nodded her head to confirm.

"She told me it was what's best for the team."

The next day, Julia played her final lacrosse game. It was a heartbreaking loss in the quarterfinals, shattering the girls' dreams of going to the league championships. Julia played alright, much better than she had on Saturday, but she was still sad over the fact that this was how she was going end her high school career.

By the end of the day on Friday, Julia had started to make a conscious effort to get herself back on track. Things were far from perfect, but that was okay. All she wanted was to feel some kind of normal before going into exam week. However, she was knocked right back to square one again.

Natalie had been going on and on about prom - where they would go for lunch beforehand, where they get ready, possible locations for the mini pre-prom photo shoot their parents would want to do. Julia just wanted to take one step at a time.

"We have two weeks to figure this out. Why are you worrying so much about the details now, Nat?"

"Well… Someone has to."

Julia shook her head at her friend, a perfectionist to the very end. The two girls had just rounded the corner of the hallway leading to the front door when Natalie stopped dead in her tracks, pulling on Julia's arm to get her to do the same.

"Oh, God," Natalie said, disgusted, trying to pull Julia back the way they came. "Let's go out the side door…"

"Wait, what's going on?" Julia asked, looking around and seeing what her friend was trying to keep her from. Ben was huddled with his little group of friends, and Bailey stood by his side. She had her arm around him, leaning into him as they talked and laughed. Julia suddenly felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

"I heard some rumors and I guess they were true," Natalie said, leading Julia away from the scene.

"They're… Together?" Julia asked, putting one and two together.

"Mhm. Pretty pathetic of them in my opinion," Natalie rambled. "What are they going to do when he leaves for Le Moyne…?"

Julia blocked out the sound of Natalie's voice and took one last look behind her. Her eyes were filled with sadness as she watched the two of them for a split second longer before doubling back the way she came.

* * *

"Thank you, sir. I'm looking forward to starting in the fall... Have a great weekend."

Julia ended the call and placed her phone down in front of her on the kitchen table. Letting out a big sigh, she ran her hands through her hair, thinking about the implications of the call she had just made. Her future was sealed. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that her mom had caught the tail end of her phone conversation.

"Who was that on the phone just now?" her mom asked, going over to her daughter.

"College recruiter," Julia said simply.

"So you made things final with Le Moyne?"

"No. Not exactly."

"No?" Julia's mom asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Julia looked up at her mom, nervous all over again like she was when she had originally told her mom of her decision to go to Le Moyne.

"Florida Tech," Julia said hesitantly.

"Florida... Tech," her mother repeated slowly, as if the words were foreign to her. It was silent for a minute as her mom sat down at the table next to her. "When did you change your mind?"

"Today."

Julia's mom sighed, shaking her head and saying, "Julia, have you even thought this through?"

"Yes. I talked to them and they worked it out so that they'd match the amount of my lacrosse scholarship from Le Moyne. It's all going to be fine."

"It's not the money I'm worried about, Jules. I'm worried about you being happy there," Julia's mom took her daughter's hand in her own. "Did you do this just because of Ben? It just seems like such a rash decision, sweetheart, that's all…"

"Maybe it is. But wanting to go to Le Moyne with him was a rash decision too, mom," Julia said, her eyes getting watery thinking about the future she could have had.

"But what about Washington…?"

"What _about_ Washington?"

"You wouldn't consider staying a little closer to home, even just for a year?"

Julia looked at her mom, finding her eyes full of concern and worry.

"I just… Need to go away for a while," Julia sighed, trying to put her feelings into words. "I need to find who I am outside of this place."

"You know what I always say, Julia," her mom started. "Life tends…"

"...To give you what you're looking for where you least expect it. I know," Julia said, finishing her mother's sentence. She knew that her mother meant well with her advice, but right now they were just words to her. The two sat in silence for a brief moment.

"Well, if this is what you really want…" her mom trailed off, standing up again and moving toward the kitchen. "I'm going to start dinner."

* * *

Julia, to her surprise, got through exam week painlessly despite her lack of preparation. All that mattered to her was that she would be getting a diploma and leaving behind South Kitsap High School.

The night of prom snuck up on her quickly, and soon Julia found herself quite literally face-to-face with it before she felt adequately prepared to go. Physically, she was well put together: she wore a dusty lavender colored gown with a beaded bodice and flowy chiffon skirt, her hair pinned into an intricate updo. Mentally, on the other hand, Julia felt anxious. She wanted nothing more than to get back into the limousine she came in and go somewhere, _anywhere_ but inside the venue. About to walk through the door to the upscale building of the local country club with her fellow senior teammates, she pulled Natalie aside.

"I need a Natalie pep talk," she admitted to her best friend, taking a deep breath.

"Why?" Natalie asked. "It's senior prom. It's going to be fun no matter what because you're with people who love and care about you. Plus you look like a million bucks, Jules. Just stick with us."

Natalie linked her arm with Julia's just as she had done at the bonfire, leading her into the building. The inside was decorated in an 'under the stars' theme, with strings of beautiful twinkling lights giving the room a dim golden glow. The girls sat down at one of the large circular tables set for dinner, awaiting the evening's festivities to begin. Julia's eyes wandered around the room until they rested on a familiar mop of dark hair sitting at a faraway table. In the seat next to him, the seat that was supposed to be her's, was his new girlfriend. She looked as gorgeous as ever in a tight fitting red dress, her blonde locks falling in loose waves down her back. On accident, Julia's eyes locked with Ben's for a split second. She looked away quickly, a pang of sadness making her heart throb.

Julia knew she shouldn't keep seeking him out in a room full of her friends and peers, but she couldn't help it. She remembered Emily's advice, to keep her head held high through the home stretch of high school. No matter how hard she tried, she felt like she couldn't be the strong person her cousin and her best friend thought she was. Instead, Julia lowered her head in resignation.

The stolen glances continued throughout the duration of prom, even when Julia's teammates dragged her out onto the dance floor. The night seemed to go on forever until the DJ announced the last song of the evening, a slow dance. Couples paired up around Julia as she left the floor, sitting back down to catch her breath. She watched the couples as they danced, the lights from above gently illuminating their faces. At the corner of the dance floor, Ben and Bailey caught her roaming eyes yet again as they moved together to the music. Julia could only think about how it was supposed to be her in Ben's arms, sharing the blissful moment of the last slow dance of senior prom. Ben leaned down as the song came to an end, placing a light kiss on Bailey's lips. Julia had decided she'd seen enough. She stood up and found her friends, who were waiting on her before they could leave. Despite the knowing looks on their faces, they said nothing, letting Julia lead the way out of the building.

* * *

"Honey, can you put the gown back on… Perfect!"

"Mom, if we take any more pictures we're gonna be late for the ceremony," Julia protested, adjusting the way her curls fell on her maroon-colored graduation gown. Her mother continued to snap a few more photos.

"Just one more! My baby is all grown up," her mom said with a bittersweet grin.

" _Please_ don't start crying now," Julia begged.

"Alright, alright. Let's get you to graduation."

Julia's very last car ride to South Kitsap went by in a blur. It was kind of surreal to think that high school was all over. In just a few short months, she'd be starting over in Florida in a school filled with completely new people. No one would know her or her story; she could be whoever she wanted to be. In a way, it was almost a relief.

The crowd inside of the school's auditorium was buzzing with excitement over the event that was about to take place. Julia gave her mom a quick hug and an 'I love you' before departing to the hall to line up with the other graduates. The seniors were restless, milling around to talk to and embrace their friends before they walked across the stage and into the next chapter of their lives. Julia canvassed the hallway, trying to spot her best friend. She waved, catching Natalie's eye and making her way over through groups of her peers.

"So… This is it, Jules," she said, smiling even though there was a hint of a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Nat," Julia returned a small grin and gave her friend a big hug, squeezing tightly. "You've been my lifeline, especially these past few weeks."

"Oh, stop. You're gonna make me cry," Natalie said, hugging back just as tight. "I'm going to miss you so much when you leave."

The girls pulled away, seeing each other getting misty-eyed at the thought of mostly being apart from now on. Instead of letting the tears fall, they both burst out laughing at how emotional they were.

"Don't worry, I'll be back during breaks to visit," Julia reassured Natalie. "You'll have to show me what I'm missing at the University of Washington when I'm home. My mom would love that."

The girls laughed again at Julia's statement as a school administrator announced for everyone to take their alphabetical places in line so that the ceremony could begin.

"See you on the other side," Natalie said with a wink as Julia turned to walk to her spot toward the back of the line.

The graduates processed into the auditorium to a rendition of the classic song _Pomp and Circumstance,_ slowly filing into the rows reserved for them in front of the stage. As she settled into her seat, Julia prepared herself for the numerous speeches the audience would have to endure and figured they wouldn't actually be walking for at least another hour. Plus, with her last name at the end of the alphabet, she expected to wait even longer.

As the principle of the school rambled on about what it meant to be a South Kitsap Wolf, Julia tried to pass the time by imagining a life at college, trading in rainy Washington for sunny Florida. She realized that changing her mind at the last minute helped her really dodge a bullet - if she had stuck with Le Moyne in central New York, she'd have to deal with subzero temperatures and ungodly amounts of snow from November to March. She smiled to herself, thinking of Ben being holed up in his dorm room while she would be lying somewhere on a beach in between classes.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was time for the graduates to claim their diplomas. Julia watched as the first row walked up to the stage, which was clad in all sorts of decorations in the school's colors of maroon and white. A giant banner hung in the center, depicting South Kitsap's official crest and slogan: " _The strength of the pack is the wolf… And the strength of the wolf is the pack."_ One by one, the students ascended the steps as their names were spoken.

"Ben Butcher."

He walked across the stage, a cocky grin plastered on his face as he received the piece of paper declaring him a high school graduate. Julia could hear his family and friends cheering behind her. She didn't bother turning to look; she knew his new girlfriend would be there, too.

It really was none of her business, but Julia figured that if he had been disloyal to her while he was supposedly committed, he would more than likely do it again to Bailey. After all, he would be across the country, by himself in a school full of plenty of new girls to hook up with. She hated herself for it, but she felt bad for Bailey. She was just sixteen, naïve in thinking that he wouldn't do to her what he had done to Julia. She might have to learn the hard way.

As the ceremony progressed, Julia clapped for her friends, cheering especially loud for Natalie as she gracefully collected her diploma. Soon, it would be Julia's turn.

At long last, the final row of students stood up, shuffling to their spot at the stairs. The school administrators seemed to be moving faster now that they could see they were almost done. Julia could feel her heart pounding as she thought about how in a few minutes she would be crossing the stage alone, all eyes on her. She hoped she wouldn't trip. With one more person in front of her, her thoughts went to her father.

 _Wish you were here, Dad._ _I love you._

"Julia Young."

Julia, her heels clicking on the floor of the stage, made her way over to the principal of South Kitsap High. With her left hand outstretched, she grasped her diploma and did the customary handshake. She paused for a second and smiled so her mom could get some nice pictures before practically running off, ready to leave the auditorium. It was all over now.

After the completion of the ceremony, Julia found herself outside of the school taking pictures with her friends. Standing not too far away with his family was Ben. Putting on her best happy-for-the-camera smile, Julia tried not to glance over, but failed. Much like the night of prom, Ben caught her gaze. This time, still watching her, he pulled Bailey close and locked lips with her briefly in a taunting public display of affection.

"Ouch," Natalie said, seeing the whole thing happen. "Deep down, I always knew he was an asshole."

It didn't matter anymore, though. Julia would never see him again. Now, she could start to heal.


	5. Chapter 5: A Change

A/N: Holy writer's block, Batman! This chapter took me forever to get into words for some reason. It helped for me to take a break from it for a while and work on some upcoming chapters, however. The best is yet to come, I promise. As always, thank you all for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!

* * *

Chapter 5: A Change

The closer it got to Emily and Sam's wedding, the amount of art projects sitting around the house seemed to double by the day. Whenever Embry came over with his pack brothers, they would often walk in to find Emily sitting at the kitchen table with a hot glue gun in one hand and some kind of craft material in the other. No one was surprised that she wanted to DIY her entire wedding, considering she was a crafty person by nature. From centerpieces to place settings, guest favors to decorations, she did it all by hand. Today was no different. Embry, Paul, Quil, and Jared entered the house through the kitchen, finding her busy painting two wooden signs that read "bride" and "groom" in the same blush pink accent color of her other decorations.

"Now what are you making?" Quil asked, taking a peek at her work so far. "Don't you have enough decorations already?"

"Nowhere _near_ enough. I still have so much more to make. These are signs for the chairs Sam and I will sit in at the head table," Emily said proudly, holding up her pieces for everyone to see. "I just have to put the finishing touches on them."

"Everything is so… Pink," remarked Paul, scrunching his nose up at all of the flowery decorations. The guys found seats at the side of the table that hadn't been taken over by craft supplies.

"Well when _you_ get married, Paulie, you don't have to have a pink wedding," Emily chuckled, setting down her paintbrush and getting up to retrieve a platter of cinnamon buns from the stove. "Here, I made these earlier. Help yourselves… Not that I need to tell you to."

The four of them immediately dove in to grab one as Emily turned her attention back to her wooden signs.

"Embry, bet you five bucks that Rachel will want a pink wedding," Jared said between bites of his cinnamon bun.

"No way," Embry remarked, smirking. "Bet you five bucks she's gonna want purple."

"Deal."

The two shook on it, glancing sideways at Paul.

"Okay _Paulie_ , looks like you're gonna have to move things a little faster with Rach. I can't wait forever to find out if I won my five bucks," Jared said, poking fun at Paul.

Paul's cheeks turned a rosy shade of red at the mention of his future wedding. The rest of the guys laughed, knowing very well that the event was inevitable. That's just how life usually worked when you found your imprint.

"I'll jump when you do, bud," Paul replied, formulating a comeback of his own. "Poor Kim has been waiting forever."

"Touché, Lahote."

The four of them sat with Emily, laughing and conversing as they waited for the rest of the pack to show up. Sam had called a pack meeting at noon and as alpha, he made it clear that it was not optional. Admittedly, the guys came a bit early to have first pick at whatever food Emily had made. Emily finished up her signs and started to gather her supplies from the table so the pack could use the space.

"Well, while you guys are here, I have some news of my own to share with you," she said, taking her paint brushes over to the sink to wash them. Quil, Embry, Paul, and Jared first looked quizzically at each other, then back to her. "I'll have to catch everyone else later. It's nothing bad, I promise."

"Okay, then let's hear it," Embry encouraged her.

"As you know, I have lots of family coming in for the wedding so I need you all to be on your best behavior."

"Always are," Paul said with a sly grin. Quil, Embry, and Jared snickered.

"Especially you," Emily pointed one of her paint brushes at him.

Paul laughed and put his hands up in resignation, saying, "No outbursts. Promise."

"Thank you. Anyways, I have a cousin who's taking a three hour drive on Thursday to come for the wedding and is going to be staying here for a while. A _human_ cousin, who doesn't know and shouldn't accidentally find out about anything supernatural. Understand?" Emily explained, making it a point to look at each of them in the eyes just like a mother would when explaining something to her children.

"Okay, so we'll just be careful for that week. Got it," Quil said.

"Actually… Tack on a month to that."

"A month?!" Quil exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Emily, are you crazy? Is Sam okay with this?" Embry asked.

"Sam came around to the idea. She's one of my closest cousins and she hasn't visited in years. She'll be busy with school soon and I don't know when the next time I'll be able to see her again will be. So just don't do anything… _Wolfy_ around her, please?"

The guys nodded in understanding. Sure, pretending to be normal around Emily's cousin was the right thing to do, but it would probably prove to be extremely annoying. For the pack, especially Embry, Emily's house was a safe zone where they didn't have to worry about keeping their secret under wraps. They could feel free to talk openly about pack life and everything that came with it. Embry reminded himself that it would be temporary - about one month of biting their tongues and then this girl would be out of their hair.

"I'm planning a nice welcome dinner for Thursday night, and I want you all to be here," Emily continued. "She'll have to meet you all eventually, anyways. You guys practically live here."

"If there's food, you know we'll show up," Jared said, speaking for all of them.

"Good. Oh, and one more thing. Shirts are _mandatory,_ " she said, smirking at the guys and pointing out the fact that none of them were currently fully clothed.

As it got closer to noon, the rest of the pack trickled in. Collin and Brady walked in together, of course. The two were the best of friends and next to inseperable. Leah and Seth were next to arrive, their moods as different as night and day. Seth chatted happily with anyone that would listen to him, while Leah shrunk away into the corner of the room. Sam was the last one to arrive, entering the house and going straight to Emily. They exchanged greetings and embraced each other, then Sam handed her the keys to his pickup truck.

"I'm going out to run a few errands, does anyone need anything?" she asked the group.

"Oreos!" Seth exclaimed, a goofy smile plastered on his face. "The ones that have the extra filling in them."

Emily sighed, shaking her head and saying, "Does anyone need anything that _isn't_ junk food?"

"I think we'll be fine. Drive safe," Sam said, giving her one last kiss on the forehead before she headed out the door.

After Emily left, Sam turned his attention to the pack, clearing his throat and waiting for them to settle down. Once he had everyone's attention, he began his prepared monologue.

"The reason I called this meeting today was to discuss something that will greatly influence the future of the pack," Sam began in an authoritative voice. "It's something that we all knew was going to happen eventually, but instead of springing it on you all at the last second, I thought it would be better to let you know in advance so that this can be as smooth of a transition as possible."

Embry was lost. He glanced around at the faces of his pack members to see what their reactions were so far: Jared and Paul had on matching neutral expressions, poker faces that didn't allow Embry to gauge what they were thinking. Quil looked just as confused as he was. Seth, Collin, and Brady seemed mildly concerned, and Leah just looked bored.

"As you all know, I'm getting married in about a week and a half. This wedding was something I've been putting off for a while because of my responsibility to the pack and to the people of this tribe. But now that relations with the Cullens and the vampire community have been stabilized, I think the time has come for me to step down from my position as alpha at the end of the summer."

Sam paused, letting them take in the news. Everyone was quiet. The only one who spoke up was Seth.

"So… You're gonna be done? Forever?" he asked, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Yes. I guess you could say I'm retiring, in a way," Sam answered simply.

"Oh…"

"Don't worry, Seth. I'll still be around. All of you will always be welcome here," Sam tried to reassure him. "I'm just no longer going to be active in the pack."

Seth nodded, the answer seeming to satisfy him. It was quiet again for a second, then out of nowhere, he asked, "But wait, who's gonna be alpha?"

All eyes turned to Sam, awaiting his answer.

"I was getting to that," he said. He directed his gaze to the kitchen table, stopping on Jared and Paul. "Naturally, the beta would assume the alpha's position if they were to step down. Therefore, Jared will be your new alpha and Paul will follow as his beta."

"Sam, I-" Jared began to say, flabbergasted.

"You'll have time to settle into the position, Jared. I'll be working with you these next couple months to make sure you're ready."

Jared nodded, glancing at Paul and then back to Sam.

"That means I need to choose a third-in-command, right?" Jared asked him.

"When the time comes. Unless you already have someone in mind."

"I do," Jared said, turning to make eye contact with Embry.

"...Me?" Embry asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Jared said, grinning. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, bro."

Embry couldn't help but give a small smile at Jared's compliment. Never in a million years did he think that he would end up having any kind of position in the chain of command in the pack. He was always a follower, never a leader - usually just one of the guys in the background, but he never seemed to mind it. He was very good at just going with the flow of things. Maybe, he thought, this would give him the motivation to do more. To be more.

"Okay, are we done here?" Leah said, clearly ready to leave. She glanced at Sam, who nodded in affirmation.

"Way to ruin the moment, Leah…" Quil muttered.

It was silent as Leah made her way from the corner of the room to the screen door leading outside. She paused only to speak to her brother.

"You coming, Seth?"

He shook his head no, and with that Leah made her exit.

Embry didn't need to be in her head every other night during their shifts together to know that she absolutely loathed having to follow Sam's orders as alpha. Everyone, including Sam himself, could tell that Leah hated how she was compelled to obey him without question. Despite her stone cold expression throughout the whole meeting, he figured that she was pretty pleased with today's news behind the front she was putting up. With Sam leaving the pack, Leah would be able to finally put some much-needed distance between them.

"On that note…" Seth said, breaking the silence once again. "Lunch time?"

"Hell yes," Paul said, getting up and leading the group into the kitchen.

Embry followed, watching as his packmates raided the cabinets and refrigerator for food. His mind wandered back to what Jared had said: _You've got a good head on your shoulders, bro._ Someone did have faith in him; someone saw something positive. It was a nice change from listening to his mother practically tell him that he was a disappointment. And if one person saw that in him, maybe other people did, too.

* * *

The night before she would make the trip to La Push, Julia had parked herself on the couch in Natalie's living room for one last girls' night. With a bowl of popcorn sitting between them, Julia squirmed through _The Conjuring_ while Natalie spent an equal amount of time watching the movie and laughing at Julia's reactions.

"Oh my _god_ ," Julia whined, hiding her face behind a throw pillow and peeking over it slowly during every scary part.

"You're such a baby," Natalie chuckled.

"I swear, I'm not scared! I'm just… Startled."

"Whatever you say."

At the end of the movie, Julia emerged fully from behind the pillow. She immediately grabbed the television remote, flipping through channels to find something to take her mind off of it.

"Aw come on Jules, it wasn't _that_ bad," Natalie tried to reassure her.

"You know how anything supernatural freaks me out, Nat. I need to watch something boring now just to help me sleep tonight," Julia said, clicking through various infomercials and sitcoms.

"Why don't you put on the late night news? It's eleven o'clock right now."

"Good idea."

Julia tuned into the local news channel to find the broadcast just beginning. The news anchor welcomed the viewers, then jumped right into the first story of the night.

"We have some breaking news out of Bremerton tonight, where one female has gone missing and another has been found dead near Seefilm Bremerton Cinema downtown," she said as the picture cut to a split screen, showing the anchor along with a field reporter on the scene standing by two large buildings. There were emergency vehicles and police cars on the street in the background with flashing lights, as well as barricades to keep anyone who was not law enforcement out of the crime scene.

"That's not far from here," Natalie said, her voice uneasy. Julia felt uncomfortable.

"Nevermind, bad idea. This is the last thing I need to listen to after watching a horror movie," Julia went to turn off the TV, but Natalie grabbed the remote from her hands before she could do anything. Julia shot an annoyed look at her friend.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm invested now."

Julia rolled her eyes and forced herself to watch along with Natalie as the field reporter rattled off the details.

"We just arrived here about twenty-five minutes ago, so we don't have all of the details for you quite yet but here is what we do know: an unidentified seventeen-year-old female has been found dead in an alley between these buildings you see behind me," the field reporter said, waving her hand in that general direction.

Julia looked over at Natalie, who had her eyes glued to the screen. She was paying more attention to this than she had been to the movie.

"Investigators have found two sets of identification with her body, and believe that the second victim may still be alive. The other victim has been identified as Liza Burgess, an eighteen-year-old female from Bremerton…" the reporter continued.

"Oh my god," Natalie exclaimed, her eyes wide. "I know her!"

"What? How?"

"We went to camp together ages ago," Natalie turned up the volume on the television, listening to the rest of the details in earnest. There wasn't much more information on the nature of the murder or about any possible evidence left behind concerning who might have done it. "She's such a sweet girl. I hope she's okay."

When the news anchor wrapped up the story for the time being and the station cut to a commercial break, Natalie turned off the TV.

"I've had enough of the news for tonight…" she said, clearly bothered by what they had just seen. Julia frowned. She hated seeing her friend shaken up.

"Well, if you're okay, I better head home," Julia said. "I have a pretty long drive tomorrow."

Natalie nodded, getting up from the couch to see Julia out. Before heading to the door, she gave Julia a big hug.

"Please be safe. I know it's a short walk but you don't know what kind of creeps are out there," she said. "And please look out for yourself on the rez, too."

"I will, don't worry," Julia said, hugging her back. The girls said their goodbyes, and Julia made the walk back to her house as quickly as possible. She couldn't wait to get some sleep.

 _Good thing I didn't wait til the last minute to pack,_ she thought to herself as she slipped into her house through the side door and made her way quietly up the stairs to her room. While getting ready for bed, her thoughts wandered to the girls on the news. They were her age, and that's what scared her the most - the odds were slim, but something like that could happen to her. She thought about the one girl, the one Natalie had known. Liza. She could still be out there somewhere, right this very second.

As far as she knew, nothing dangerous or crazy happened in La Push. From what Emily had told her, it was much like Neah Bay: a quiet, small town where everyone looked out for each other. Sure, outsiders sometimes came and went, but they didn't threaten the safety of the residents of the Quileute reservation. She would be fine.

Sighing, Julia climbed into bed and tried to rid her head of any negative thoughts, thinking instead of the positive things to come: seeing Emily, attending her wedding, spending time outside down by the beach, going on long walks through the forest… All things that would help her hit the reset button on her state of mind before she left for college. With that, she slowly drifted off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6: La Push

A/N: Hi, everyone! Hope your week is off to a good start. I'm overwhelmed with happiness from the positive response to this story, and it makes me glad to know that you guys like reading it as much as I love writing it. I'm super excited to post this chapter! All I have to say is, it's about friggin time... ;)

Suggested listening: Misguided Ghosts by Paramore

* * *

" _I'm going away for a while, but I'll be back, don't try and follow me… 'Cause I'll return as soon as possible. See, I'm trying to find my place, but it might not be here where I feel safe. We all learn to make mistakes, and run from them, from them, with no direction. We'll run from them, from them, with no conviction."_

Chapter 6: La Push

With the windows rolled all the way down in her mom's little Subaru, Julia enjoyed the fresh air filling the car with the scent of pine as the two drove through the Washington countryside. There were trees as far as the eye could see, and not a cloud dotted the bright blue sky above them. If the weather was still this nice in La Push, Julia decided that she would definitely be going for a walk after dinner.

It was around four o'clock in the afternoon, and by her mom's estimation, they would arrive at Emily's house around four-thirty. They were almost outside of Forks, the last town before entering the Quileute reservation. Passing by large lumber trucks going in the opposite direction, Julia could tell they were getting closer. It wasn't until they turned onto La Push Road, however, that a surreal feeling washed over her. As the forest closed in around them on either side of the street like two giant green walls, the area began to seem vaguely familiar to Julia. It had been just a little over a decade since she'd been here with Emily, but it felt more like a lifetime ago.

"Now Jules, don't forget I'm going to be in Tacoma for the Washington Educator's Conference the first weekend of July," her mom reminded her as they cruised through the forest, the only car on the road. It was about the fifth time in the past two days she had mentioned it.

"I know. I will be _fine_ , mom," Julia reassured her. "Don't worry about me."

"I'm going to worry about you no matter what. I'm your mother. It's what mothers do," her mom glanced sideways at her, trying not to take her eyes off the road for too long. "You don't know what kind of wild animals are in these forests."

"...Squirrels, rabbits, and deer?"

"Honey, I'm talking about cougars. Wolves. _Bears_ ," her mom gave as examples, putting a heavy emphasis on the last one.

" _Mom,_ " Julia said, surprised she would go there. "It's not like they wander around and wait until someone-"

"You know what happened to your cousin. Just please be careful."

Julia turned away from her mother, staring outside at the trees whizzing by and wondering exactly what was living among them… Wondering what she would do if she came face-to-face with a wolf or a bear. She remembered a few years ago how Emily had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth for about a week, not returning any of Julia's calls. When she finally reached out to Julia, she told her about the horrific accident that had occurred: she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up being attacked by a black bear, resulting in a series of long, jagged scars being permanently etched upon her beautiful face. Julia had seen the extent of the damage in photographs, and so had her mom. She could understand why her mom was concerned that an accident like that would happen to her own daughter, but that's purely what it was - an accident. There was no way to predict that it was going to happen.

The rest of the car ride went by in uneasy silence. With anticipation in the air and a slightly faster-than-normal pounding in her chest, Julia couldn't bring herself to strike up more of a conversation with her mom. She was grateful that her mom could sense it, too, speaking up only to let Julia know that they were about to pull up to the house.

As Emily and Sam's place came into view, Julia was struck by how cute the house was. It was a smallish cabin-style building with a covered porch and a little garden attached to the side. Isolated from the main part of town and surrounded by a thick circle of trees, there was plenty of privacy, but it was only a short walk or drive away from everything. Julia's mother pulled up and parked next to a plain black pickup truck, which Julia assumed to belong to Sam. She slowly unbuckled herself and exited the car, looking up at the trees soaring above her. Light filtered down through the leaves and pine needles, illuminating small patches of ground here and there. It felt magical, like she was in a storybook.

Julia was brought back to real life as the screen door attached to the house made a loud creaking noise. Emily had heard the car pull up.

"Jules!" she exclaimed, running down the porch steps and over to her cousin, catching her in a tight embrace. Julia hugged back, beaming.

"Em, I've missed you so much!"

Emily let go and pulled back long enough to look at Julia for a second, then went in for another hug, saying, "I've missed you too, sweetie."

The girls separated after their joyful reunion. As they chatted briefly about the drive into the rez, Julia noticed a tall, muscular man had followed Emily out of the house and was lingering behind her. Emily turned around and walked back to him, linking her arm with his then leading him over to Julia and her mother.

"I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Sam," she said, beaming first up at him and then directing her smile to her visitors.

Sam was… Intimidating, to say the least. Julia figured that he was probably at least six feet and three inches tall, towering over her and Emily. He had large, rounded muscles and a chiseled face with dark hair and eyes. Julia knew he was around Emily's age, but the look in his eyes told her that he was mature beyond his years. She guessed he had experienced a lot in his short life, or had just seen things he wished he could unsee… Maybe, she thought, it was a little bit of both.

"Nice to finally meet you, Julia," he said in a deep voice. Julia recognized it as the voice from the phone when she had called Emily the day after Ben… Nevermind. She didn't want to think about that right now.

Sam offered Julia his hand and she took it timidly, looking him in the eyes for a brief moment. It was large and rough, and he had a firm grasp that caught her off guard. But the thing that struck Julia the most was how unusually _hot_ his skin was. She felt her own hand smolder slightly from the contact, but she told herself not to be silly and that she was probably over-thinking because she was nervous. Some people just ran warmer than others, right?

"Nice to meet you, too," Julia managed to say with a friendly smile. Sam said hello to Julia's mother as well, but did not shake her hand. Instead, he offered to take Julia's bags inside. Once Sam had gone back into the house with her belongings, Julia turned to give her mother a hug.

"I love you, Jules," her mom said. "Don't forget to look out for yourself. If you have an emergency, call me."

"I will. Love you too, mom."

Julia let go, then walked over to stand with her cousin.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her. I promise," Emily said in her soft, soothing voice.

"Thank you," Julia's mom said, her eyes studying Emily's features. Julia couldn't help but notice how her mother's gaze lingered ever so slightly on the scars framing the right side of Emily's face. She turned to get back into the car, but Emily piped up again.

"Aunt Heather..." she said gently. "I'm getting dinner started soon. You can stay, if you'd like."

Julia watched as her mom quickly weighed her options. She smiled, grateful to Emily for her offer. However, Julia could tell that being back on this side of the Olympic peninsula bothered her slightly. She hadn't spent much time with her husband's family since he had passed.

"I appreciate it, Emily, but I should probably be heading home," she said apologetically. Emily nodded in understanding.

"Safe travels," she replied.

The two cousins waved as Julia's mom got into the car, staying outside until it drove out of sight.

 _Well, this is it,_ Julia thought. _This is home for the next month._

Emily turned to her cousin, grinning, "Shall we go inside?"

Julia nodded, letting Emily lead her up the porch steps, through the squeaky screen door, and into the kitchen.

The room was open and airy, smelling of fresh herbs and tomatoes thanks to a large pot of sauce simmering on the stove. Julia looked around, admiring its quirky charm. The large kitchen table and chairs were mismatched, yet they seemed to go together perfectly. Various pieces of art hung from the walls, and plants dotted the shelves and corners of the room.

Walking up to a tiny island separating the kitchen from the dining area, the outside of the refrigerator caught Julia's attention. It was covered in a child's artwork. Upon looking at it longer, she realized that many of the pieces were signed with the name "Claire" in messy handwriting. They must have been drawn by Emily's niece. Julia smiled, thinking about how much Claire must have grown since she last saw her after she was born.

"Claire is growing up to be an artist just like you, I see," Julia remarked to Emily, who smiled fondly at the pictures.

"Oh yeah. She loves to draw," Emily said, taking a wooden spoon and giving the sauce a stir.

Julia studied the pictures, finding that most of them were of people. One had an angry stick figure with the caption "mad Uncle Paul", another had a group of stick figures labeled "Emily, Sam, Claire, and Quil". She recognized another that was a rendering of Seth and Leah. Yet another depicted Quil and Claire, this time it was just the two of them with what looked like the beach in the background. The only drawing that wasn't of a person was a simple, chocolate brown colored wolf.

"Does she also like wolves…?" Julia asked, pointing out the last picture.

Emily paused, then gave an awkward laugh, "She must be going through a wolf phase. You know how kids are."

"Right. Does she visit often?"

"A couple times a month. She'll be in school this year, though, so maybe not as often when summer is over. She's growing up so fast," Emily said, walking across the room and motioning for Julia to follow her. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."

Julia let Emily lead her around the house, starting downstairs in the living room and ending upstairs in the room she would be staying in.

"Last but not least…" Emily said, opening the door for Julia and smiling proudly. "...Is your room. I decorated it myself."

The room itself was on the small side, but it felt cozy instead of claustrophobic. There was a large window opposite the door, letting in plenty of natural light to illuminate the off-white walls decorated with pieces of tribal art. The exposed wood of the ceiling matched the floors, bringing the cabin-like feeling of the exterior indoors. The bed was the focal point of the room, of course, boasting a beautiful multi-colored quilt and a selection of mismatched throw pillows that somehow worked well with each other, just like the furniture in the kitchen had. Besides the bed, the only other pieces of furniture in the room were a bedside table with drawers, a dresser, and a full-length mirror in the corner. There was also a small closet, for which Julia was grateful - she had brought way more clothes than she really needed.

"I love it," Julia said, admiring her cousin's decorating skills.

"I knew you would. I'll let you take some time to unpack while I go start dinner," Emily said, leaving Julia and returning downstairs to the kitchen.

Sam had been nice enough to bring Julia's bags up to her room, leaving them waiting for her on top of the bed. She made quick work of unpacking, emptying almost all of her clothes into the closet on the hangers that Emily had provided for her. The rest she folded up and placed in one of the dresser drawers. After she finished, Julia sat down on the bed for a moment, gazing outside through the wide window. The room faced the back side of the house, giving her a view of where the yard met the line of trees designating the beginning of the forest.

Julia was relieved that things seemed to be going well so far. She looked forward to having a low-key, relaxing evening. Already missing the company of her cousin, however, she wandered back downstairs to the kitchen to find Emily in the middle of cooking a massive amount of pasta.

"Who are you feeding, Em? A small country?" she asked, eyeing the giant pot on the stove. She was positive that Emily was cooking way more than enough food for three people.

"You would think," Emily said with a chuckle, opening the oven to put in a large baking dish full of meatballs. "I'm having Sam's friends come over for dinner. I want you to meet them, since they practically live here, too. They're like family to us."

Well, there went Julia's low-key evening. Now, she worried about whether or not she was presentable enough for dinner with a bunch of strangers.

"Should I go put on something a little… Nicer?" Julia asked her cousin, looking down at her outfit. Wanting to wear something comfortable for the three hour drive from Port Orchard to La Push, she had settled on a pair of black leggings and a loose fitting plain t-shirt. Hell, she wasn't even wearing an actual _bra_ , instead opting for a halter bralette that peeked out from behind the collar of her shirt. Julia now felt fortunate that she had taken the time to put on her light, everyday makeup and tame her thick head of hair that morning.

"No, you'll be just fine," Emily reassured her.

"Alright, if you say so," Julia said, lingering a little longer. She hated to see Emily do all of this cooking by herself. "Can I do anything to help you?"

Emily chuckled a bit, walking over to the refrigerator and retrieving a large head of lettuce, some tomatoes, and a cucumber.

"Don't be silly, Jules, you're my guest."

"Oh come on, Em," Julia said, walking around the island to meet her halfway. "At least let me make the salad."

"Fine. If you insist," Emily said, shaking her head at Julia's persistence, yet smiling as she placed the vegetables down next to a cutting board. She got Julia a knife and a large bowl, then went back to the fridge and pulled out a container of pre-made dough. "In that case, I'll get started on the garlic knots."

The girls chatted as they finished preparing dinner. Sam had joined them in the kitchen at that point, and the more Julia talked to him, the more she found that he wasn't really as intimidating as he looked. He was actually a pretty nice guy. When Emily got up on her toes to grab dishes from the cabinets above her, he went over and stopped her, pulling out plates and bowls for her. Julia couldn't help but notice how he looked at Emily with complete love and adoration. If only she still had someone looking at her that way…

 _Stop,_ Julia thought to herself. _You don't need Ben to be happy. You don't need any boy to be happy._

When dinner was pretty much ready to go, Julia watched as Sam and Emily set the table. She counted how many sets of plates and utensils were arranged: eleven. That would mean she would soon be meeting eight of Sam's supposed "friends". She could already feel herself getting nervous.

Shortly after the table was set, Julia heard a car pull up to the house. She peered out the kitchen window to find a group of guys exiting an old, rusty truck. It looked pretty worse for wear, especially in comparison to Sam's.

 _Does everyone drive a truck around here?_ She thought absentmindedly to herself before realizing that somehow they had fit seven people into it. Some of them had been riding in the bed of the truck. They jumped out to join the others, all laughing and talking among themselves. From Julia's vantage point, they looked to be around her age, some older and some younger. As they entered the house, Julia heard the oven timer go off to signal that the garlic knots were ready. Thankful for the distraction, she shrunk away to retrieve them. Behind her, she could hear the guys calling out greetings and striking up conversations with Emily and Sam.

"Hey Em!"

"Sweet, we're having spaghetti!"

"Are we eating right now? Because I'm _starving_."

Julia slowly turned around to place the hot pan of garlic knots on a cooling rack in the middle of the island. She stood behind it, frozen in place, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Now that she could see them up close, Julia observed that Sam's group of friends looked exactly like him. Of course, they looked alike in the sense that they were all Quileute, with the same dark hair and russet-colored skin typical of the tribe. Julia also noticed that they all kept their hair cut short. Beyond that, they all seemed to have the same build as Sam. For starters, they were tall. Very tall. The shortest one in the group had to have stood at no less than six feet. They all seemed to be pretty muscular too, at least from what Julia could tell. One of them had even come shirtless, boasting six-pack abs and large biceps. She couldn't deny that they were pretty attractive.

Julia could feel her heart thumping spastically against her chest. Here she was, newly single and practically in the middle of a room full of good-looking men. The funny thing about it, though, was that she now wished she were somewhere else. _Anywhere_ else. If Natalie ever found out about this, Julia knew she would laugh at the irony and never let her live it down.

The one without a shirt on was the first to notice her standing alone behind the garlic knots.

"Hey, Em, is this your cousin?" he asked, walking over to her.

 _Out of all of them…_ Julia thought, dying a little on the inside. _It just has to be the shirtless one that notices me first. Of course._

"Yes," Emily said from somewhere across the room. "Everyone, this is my cousin, Julia."

Julia brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, looking down at the counter as she felt seven pairs of eyes on her all at once. The one without a shirt now stood before her. She looked up at him hesitantly.

"Hi," he said, grinning. She could tell he was the most outgoing one of the group. "I'm Paul."

Paul. This must be the "mad Uncle Paul" from Claire's drawing on the fridge.

"Nice to meet you, Paul," Julia said timidly, barely looking him in the eyes.

He made a move to snatch a garlic knot off of the pan between them, but Emily had made her way over to the two of them and stopped him before he could get away with it.

"You can wait until we all sit down for dinner," she said, as if reprimanding a child.

"Em, I've been running around outside all day. Cut me some slack."

Emily rolled her eyes at him.

"Paul, what did I tell you on Tuesday?"

"That we should be here on Thursday for dinner and to be on our best behavior," Paul said, turning and giving Julia a little wink. Julia had no idea what to make of the exchange.

"What was the _other_ thing I told you on Tuesday?" she asked, motioning to his bare chest.

" _Oh_ … Shirts. Mandatory. Right," he said, caught off guard. "I… Forgot? Sorry."

"It's alright. We'll just get you something of Sam's to wear," Emily sighed, then faced Julia. "I'll be right back, Jules."

She took Paul by the arm, leading him away as the rest of the guys cackled at him. With Emily now gone, she felt even more nervous, if that was possible. Another one of the guys came forward, walking around the counter to stand with her. He had a friendly smile on his face. Julia couldn't place it, but he looked familiar. She felt like she'd already met him once.

"Julia!" he said in a way that made her think that he recognized her, too. "Remember me?"

Something clicked in her head. He looked familiar because she _had_ met him before, albeit a long time ago.

"Seth Clearwater?"

"The one and only!"

Julia smiled for the first time since Sam's friends had entered the house. Knowing someone other than Emily put her slightly at ease.

"Well, you certainly have grown up," she said, having to look up to meet his eyes. He chuckled.

"Could say the same for you."

"You're how old? Nineteen, now?"

Seth nodded, saying, "Yup. Time flies, huh? Feels like it was just yesterday when you came down with Emily to visit."

Julia recalled that day in her mind: they had gone fishing with the whole Clearwater family on one of the rivers that ran through the Quileute reservation, and ended with dinner at their house that evening.

"Is Leah still around?" Julia asked Seth, curious.

"Yeah. She's supposed to come for dinner, but I haven't seen her all day, so who knows."

Emily reappeared with a now fully-clothed Paul, who went and took a seat at the table.

"Have you met everyone else yet?" she asked as she came back over to Julia, noticing that Seth was standing with her. Julia shook her head no.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come with me," Emily said, gently taking Julia's hand in her own and pulling her out from behind the counter. "Don't worry. They won't bite."

First, she took her over to the two boys who looked to be the youngest of the group.

"Julia, meet Collin and Brady. Collin and Brady, meet Julia," she said with a smile. They exchanged pleasantries, then Emily dragged her along to the next set of people. One of them was Paul, who was talking animatedly about something to his friend sitting next to him.

"Well, you know Paul now…" Emily said. The guy next to Paul laughed, then gave Julia a smile.

"Jared," he said, introducing himself. "Welcome to La Push."

Julia thanked him, then followed Emily over to the last two guys in the room. One was taller than the other but less burly, and he kept his hair a bit longer than the rest of the group. The shorter of the two, who had a messy mop of short curls and an easygoing expression, noticed them approaching and spoke up first.

"Hey," he said, giving a small wave. "My name is Quil."

"Quil? Like in Claire's drawings?" Julia asked, motioning to the fridge.

"Yeah," he admitted with a bashful smile. "I'm that Quil. Not like you've met many more, I'm sure."

Julia smiled and chuckled quietly, looking down and turning toward the last of Sam's friends. As she looked up, she noticed him offer his hand. Upon shaking it, she was shocked to find that his skin was just as hot as Sam's had been.

"Hi, I'm Embry," he said as their eyes met. He had started off with a neutral expression, but as he continued to look into her eyes, his face changed. It was a strange look - some kind of mixture between shock and awe that suddenly made Julia very self-conscious.

"Um… Nice to meet you?" she said to him. She realized it sounded more like a question, reflecting her confusion as to why they had been standing there so long with their hands intertwined. Julia had tried to let go, but he had not.

Quil glanced at Emily, who knitted her brows together and gave him a funny look. He then gave Embry a nudge in the side with his elbow, snapping him out of his little trance.

"Oh, uh, sorry… Julia," he said, quickly releasing her hand, but not looking away from her. He was staring intently, and Julia could feel her cheeks getting warm. Her entire face was probably flushed pink by now. It was quiet for a moment between the four of them, then Emily spoke up.

"Okay…" she said slowly. "How about we all sit down for dinner?"


	7. Chapter 7: Imprint

A/N: Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone for sticking with me so far, even when it takes me almost a month to update... (Yikes, I know.) Also, welcome new readers! I'm so thankful every day for your support.

My new semester of school starts on Monday (ugh), and I have lots of adult-ish responsibilities on top of that (such as work and an internship, among other things), so I will be trying my absolute best to get updates out as quickly as I possibly can. Please understand that even if updates are kind of slow, I have 0 plans of abandoning this story, so don't worry! This is a story that's quite literally been two years in the making and I have no intention on giving up now.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Suggested listening: You and Me by Lifehouse

* * *

 _"There's you and me and all other people, and I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you."_

Chapter 7: Imprint

"Well, I really hope this truck works… Otherwise, we're all walking to Emily's," Quil said, grabbing a set of keys from the hooks next to the back door. Most of the pack, save for Leah, had met at his house in the middle of town at around five o'clock to carpool to Emily's place. It was a ten minute drive out there, but if they had to walk, they would end up being late for dinner. No self-respecting member of the pack would ever be late to dinner at Emily's.

"It made it from the shop to here yesterday. It'll be fine," Embry tried to reassure him. The pair had spent countless hours this past week working on the beat up old truck that Quil had recently gotten, rebuilding the engine and crossing their fingers that it would run.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Quil asked. They guys nodded, getting ready to make their way outside.

"Shotgun!" Paul called, racing out of the house to claim the passenger's seat. Jared was faster, however, beating Paul to the door and hopping in before he could even get his hands on him. Jared laughed at Paul, closing the door and locking it from the inside so that he couldn't get in.

" _Not_ fair," he complained, banging on the door. "I called shotgun! You know the rules."

"Some rules were meant to be broken," Jared said with a smirk as the rest of the guys filed outside, watching the pair have at it.

"You're gonna get it," Paul said with a devilish grin. "Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But you're gonna get it, Cameron."

"Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just sleep with one eye open. That's all I'm saying."

After he exited the house and pulled the door shut, Quil leaned over to Embry, saying, "Wait, Paul isn't wearing a shirt. Didn't Emily say…?"

"Yep."

"Should we tell him?"

"Nope."

The two of them, listening to Jared and Paul bicker, joined the others by Quil's truck. Quil walked over to the driver's side, opening the door and motioning for Paul to come around.

"Here, why don't you just sit in the middle?" he suggested. Paul obliged, sliding in next to Jared.

"One eye open," he repeated slowly, emphasizing each of the words.

Quil sat down in the driver's seat as the rest of the guys hopped into the bed of the truck. The engine sputtered and revved a bit as he attempted to start it. Embry held his breath, hoping for the best. After what felt like an eternity, the truck finally sprang to life.

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Brady asked, making eye contact with Embry from across the truck. He had a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, it's safe. The worst thing that could happen is that it stops running."

Brady gave Collin an apprehensive look, to which Collin simply shrugged.

"We can get out and push it if we have to," he said to Brady, who seemed less than thrilled with the idea.

"Hope not."

With the truck running and no time to waste, the pack set off for Emily's house. It wasn't exactly a smooth ride, especially for the four in the back. After a moment of silence, Embry turned to face Seth.

"Is Leah coming for dinner, or will I just have to meet her out on patrol?"

"No idea. Haven't seen her at all today," Seth shook his head. "She seemed super annoyed that Emily's cousin is gonna be staying for so long, so... I'm not banking on her showing up."

Brady overheard their conversation. He rolled his eyes a bit, saying, "Well having someone around who can't be in on the pack secret is kind of annoying for all of us. Not just her. The least she could do is go."

Collin gave Brady an offended look.

"Chill, bro. Leah can do whatever she wants."

Embry chuckled to himself. Typical Collin, defending Leah. The kid had been infatuated with her ever since he joined the pack a few years ago; his little crush was the definition of puppy love. But everyone including Collin himself knew that realistically, Leah would never reciprocate.

"That's only one part of it, though," Seth explained. "Leah will never admit it, but she's really jealous of her…"

"Jealous of who?" Embry asked.

"Emily's cousin, Julia. Always has been," Seth rolled his eyes as he mentioned his sister's pettiness. "Julia and Emily are close... Closer than Leah and Emily used to be. I mean, they both lived on the Makah rez for years and were with each other all the time."

Embry nodded in understanding, not saying anything.

 _Great,_ he thought. _Another thing for Leah to complain about._

They had turned onto the unpaved road that led right to Emily and Sam's house, and within the next minute, they had arrived.

"Well… I still hope Leah comes," Collin said with a cheesy grin. The guys laughed as they hopped out of the bed of the truck. Embry waited for Quil, who was the last to get out.

"Not going to lie. I'm kind of surprised it made it all the way here without dying on us," Quil said, glancing back at his truck as they walked toward the house together.

"Guess we did a good job on it, huh?" Embry said, grinning at his friend who nodded and high-fived him.

"Now we can work on finishing that bike of yours."

As they entered Emily and Sam's house, the guys were greeted by the welcoming aroma of Emily's homemade pasta sauce.

"Hey Em!" Seth called out, greeting her.

"Sweet, we're having spaghetti!" exclaimed Collin.

"Are we eating now? Because I'm _starving,"_ Quil said.

Embry and his pack brothers made themselves at home. The table was already set with the abundance of food that would all be gone soon, thanks to the guys and their seemingly insatiable appetites. That was just one of the many little quirks of pack life - they could eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and still would be hungry for more.

Paul, following his nose to a pan of garlic knots, also noticed an unfamiliar figure standing behind the counter.

"Hey, Em, is this your cousin?" he asked, eyeing her as he made his way over.

"Yes. Everyone, this is my cousin, Julia," Emily announced, drawing attention over to the stranger in the room.

Embry, along with the rest of the pack, turned their gaze on the girl. She looked down nervously as Paul approached, tucking her hair behind her ear. From where Embry was standing, he couldn't really get a good look at her - Paul had dwarfed her small frame and blocked her from view. He heard Paul introduce himself, then watched as Emily went over to them.

"...Paul, what did I tell you on Tuesday?"

"That we should be here on Thursday for dinner and to be on our best behavior."

"What was the _other_ thing I told you on Tuesday?"

" _Oh…_ Shirts. Mandatory. Right. I… Forgot? Sorry," Paul said in a rush. Embry and Quil glanced at each other, giving each other knowing looks and suppressing any laughs that threatened to escape.

"It's alright. We'll just get you something of Sam's to wear," Emily said, leading Paul away. The rest of the pack failed to hold in their laughter as he looked back, narrowing his eyes at the group as if to say _I can't believe you didn't remind me._ Embry glanced at Sam to see that even he was chuckling along with everyone else.

"Anyways," Embry turned to Quil again to continue their conversation instead of going over to introduce himself to Emily's guest. Besides, Seth had already made his way to her. He could say hello after everyone else got a chance, he decided. "I'm gonna spend some time in the shop tomorrow to finish my bike, if you wanted to come."

"Sure, if my truck doesn't take a shit on the way home. No promises."

"Has anyone besides your mom ever told you that you worry too much?"

"...Says the guy who worries about _everything_."

Embry shook his head, giving a flat, sardonic laugh. Quil wasn't wrong. He looked at his friend with a sober expression in his eyes and said, "Because I have everything to worry about, Quil. My mother has barely spoken to me in weeks. Nothing. _Nada."_

"She gets moody all the time though. What's so different now?" Quil asked, seeming lost.

"She told me a couple weeks ago not to even bother coming home if I was going to be out all night again," Embry had thought about that particular moment a lot since it had happened, but up until now had never actually talked about it in detail with anyone. The conversation he had with Leah had been pretty one-sided, with the one side mainly being her. She had tuned into his thoughts that night, and she had initiated. Since then, he had come to accept the idea in his head that his mother could kick him out whenever she wanted. Vocalizing it, on the other hand, felt weird. "I think she wants me gone."

"Gone as in… She wants to kick you out of the house?"

Embry nodded quietly.

"That's ridiculous. If she ever does that, you know my mom would find room for you at our house, man…" Quil said, frowning and shaking his head. Out of the corner of his eye, though, two people approaching caught his attention. He immediately changed his expression to a friendly smile. Embry followed his gaze to see Emily dragging her cousin Julia over to them.

She was a tiny little thing - shorter than Emily, but especially in comparison to the members of the pack. Embry guessed that the top of her head would just about reach his chest if she were standing right next to him. She had a slim yet athletic body, strong but feminine thanks in part to her long brown hair. It was almost as dark as Emily's, framing her round cheekbones and falling nearly all the way down to her waist. She looked to Quil first, seeming relieved that he was giving her a welcoming smile. Embry watched their exchange.

"Hey, my name is Quil," he introduced himself with a wave. Her face lit up in recognition.

"Quil? Like in Claire's drawings?" she asked, giving a nod in the direction of the fridge that was covered in Claire's art.

"Yeah. I'm that Quil. Not like you've met many more, I'm sure."

Julia gave him a smile, then looked down for a brief moment as she turned to face Embry. He immediately thought to offer her his hand.

"Hi, I'm Embry," he said as she took his hand and looked up to meet his gaze. It was just one look... But that was all it took for his world to change completely.

Before he could even register what was happening, all of the remaining thoughts in his head had fizzled out. Any notion of time and space was gone, and in their place it was simply _her._ He wanted to take in every detail about her that he could... Her light, floral scent. The way her full lips curved up ever so slightly at the corners as she smiled at him. How her lashes curled in just the right way to showcase her dark, almond-shaped eyes. Embry would be perfectly content to look at her forever.

It made no sense whatsoever considering he had been mulling over it for weeks, but the conversation he had just had with Quil and the issues with his mother seemed so trivial now. If she kicked him out tonight, he would find a way to make it work as long as he could still see Julia tomorrow. Just moments ago, she'd been a stranger; someone he had even written off as a kind of inconvenience to him and his fellow pack members. Now, she was nothing short of his entire world. Nothing else mattered anymore, nothing except for this girl standing right in front of him. As he held her small hand in his own, precious and seemingly fragile, Embry vowed that he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. He knew he would do anything for her, bend over backwards and go to the ends of the earth to make sure she was happy.

And she had absolutely no idea.

"Um… Nice to meet you?"

To Embry's dismay, her smile faltered a bit and she broke eye contact as she spoke. His thoughts raced a million miles per second, trying to come up with a reason why she wouldn't still be smiling at him. Had he already done something wrong? Did she think he was weird? Or worse… Was he intimidating her? He could feel his heart pounding fast inside of his chest. Making her uncomfortable was the _last_ thing he wanted to do.

He was brought back into the real world again with an uncomfortable jab in the ribcage from Quil. Embry blinked a few times, coming to his senses. He realized that he had been gripping her hand for much longer than what anyone would consider a normal handshake, and that she had been trying to pull away. He quickly let go, missing the feeling of her hand in his the second that he did.

"Oh, uh, sorry… Julia," Embry said, too awestruck to be able to form a coherent sentence. He knew he was staring, but he couldn't do anything to stop himself. How could he _not_ stare at the most beautiful girl he had ever seen? He noticed that her round cheeks started to flush with color, and he couldn't help but find it completely adorable. Embry would have stood there and looked at her for hours, but Emily's voice broke the dead silence between them.

"Okay… How about we all sit down for dinner?"

With an unreadable expression on her face, Julia looked him over once more before turning around and falling into step behind Emily. Instinctively, Embry made to follow after her, hoping to take a seat next to her at the table. However, Quil grabbed his arm and yanked him back, halting him in his tracks.

" _Dude,_ " he said to Embry in a hushed tone. He knew exactly what was going on. "You need to play it cool."

Embry quickly freed himself from his friend's grasp, not taking his eyes off of Julia as she walked away.

"Am I not playing it cool?"

"No, you're acting like you have your head stuck up your ass."

Embry sighed at Quil's comment, mumbling, "Sorry. Can't help it."

"I know, but you just met her. Act _normal_. Like Emily asked us to."

"Normal. Right."

As Julia followed Emily away from Quil and Embry, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was just a little… _Off._ Quil had seemed friendly enough, but Embry… The way he had been so fixated on her gave her the chills. It wasn't inherently bad or good, it was simply strange and she had no clue what to think about it.

Giving Emily a little tap on the shoulder, she cleared her throat and asked quietly, "Hey Em… Uh, what just happened back there? Is Embry… Okay?"

Emily faced her cousin as they found seats next to each other at the table, giving her a look of feigned bewilderment. She knew the only thing she could do at this point was pretend that the interaction had been nothing out of the ordinary.

"Of course he's okay, Jules. Why do you ask?"

"I…" Julia started, not sure how to put her thoughts into words. Maybe she was overthinking it. "No reason. Never mind."

After his little conversation with Quil, Embry watched as Julia took a seat next to Emily, leaving a spot open on her left. To his annoyance, it was quickly filled by Seth, who chatted away happily with her. Embry would have to settle for a seat on the opposite side of the table. At least from there he would be able to look at her some more.

Soon, the dishes had been passed around and the pack made quick work of devouring what was in front of them. Although the meal did taste delicious, as Emily's cooking always did, Embry could not have cared less about the food in front of him for once. He was too caught up in stealing glances across the table at his imprint.

 _Imprint._ After years of wondering if he'd ever get to experience the phenomenon for himself, and more recently accepting the idea that it wouldn't happen, fate finally decided that it had other plans. Jacob had been right: it really had happened when he least expected it to. Embry felt like the luckiest guy in the world. Maybe, he thought, he should go buy a lottery ticket later.

Meanwhile, Julia tried her best to enjoy her dinner despite being bombarded with all sorts of generic questions from Sam's friends.

"So," Quil asked through a mouthful of spaghetti. _Cringe._ "Where's home?"

"Depends," Julia answered with a shrug. Quil tilted his head like a confused puppy dog. "Well… I was born in Neah Bay. But I've been living in Port Orchard for the past ten years."

"Ahh…" he said, trailing off. "Yeah, no clue where that is."

Julia giggled softly. The noise was like music to Embry's ears, although he had wished he was the one making her laugh.

"Kind of near Seattle."

Embry sighed to himself. It was a far drive, no where near as convenient as Neah Bay would've been, but it would be do-able. The rational part of him couldn't believe that he was already making plans in his head to visit Julia once she went home, seeing that as of right now he had spoken about two sentences to her - and even _that_ was being generous. To make things even more difficult, the most he knew about her was her name and where she was from. Thankfully, his pack brothers did most of the interrogating for him. He quickly learned that she was eighteen, an only child, played lacrosse, liked the color blue, and her favorite kind of pizza was cheese and pepperoni. Well, Embry guessed that _any_ information about her was useful at this point...

"Are you a cat person… Or a dog person?" Brady asked slyly, hiding a smirk by shoving practically an entire meatball into his mouth. Sam shot him a disapproving look, but didn't say anything. The pack waited curiously for her response.

"I never had any pets growing up, but…" Julia said, oblivious to the glances going around the table between those who understood the not-so-subliminal message hidden in the question. "I guess I like dogs better."

A few of the guys snickered mischievously. Julia couldn't figure out for the life of her why they were so entertained by that particular question and answer.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Looks like we're gonna get along just fine," Jared said with a look of thinly veiled amusement.

"You all prefer dogs, too?"

"Yeah. I guess you could say we're _dog people_ ," Paul chimed in. He looked like he was trying not to burst out laughing.

Emily raised her brows at him, vexation clear in her expression. She looked like she was scolding him silently, but for what Julia did not know.

" _Alright_ ," Sam said, standing up suddenly. It made Julia jump. "We're just about done here, aren't we?"

The room became uncomfortably quiet. Julia looked around the table at Sam's friends to find that all traces of their previous gleefulness had vanished. Most of them were looking anywhere but at each other… Everyone, except for Embry. He had been looking at _her._ Truth be told, she had almost forgotten he was there - he hadn't said a word throughout the entire meal. Julia made eye contact with him briefly. She could still feel his eyes on her, even when she looked away. It was actually quite unnerving.

Sam's friends began to stand up as well, stretching and following Sam's lead as he took his empty plate over to the sink. Some of them made their way into the living room. Jared and Paul said their goodbyes, mentioning something about two girls named Kim and Rachel, respectively. Only Embry and Sam lingered behind.

As Julia tried to help Emily clear the rest of the table, Emily laughed and shook her head.

"Don't you even think about it, Jules" she said, taking an empty bowl from her cousin's hands. "You've already helped with dinner. Go relax."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Emily motioned to the threshold leading to the living room. "I think the guys have the Mariners game on in there. Why don't you go join them?"

Nodding in defeat, Julia took a deep breath and reluctantly did as her cousin suggested. Embry waited a few seconds, then began to follow behind her, hopeful that there would be a spot where he could sit with her this time. He paused only upon hearing Emily loudly clear her throat.

"And where do you think you're going?" her question was blunt, but she had a smile on her face. A thought crossed Embry's mind of how eerily similar she had sounded to his mom.

"To watch the game…?"

" _Sure_ you are. I think you have some explaining to do," Emily had turned to the sink to get to work on the pile of dirty dishes in front of her. She glanced up at him, her eye contact intense. "Because if I'm right, which of course I am, you need to tell us what happened before dinner."

Now Sam had turned on him with an inquisitive expression, his interest piqued. He too pressed Embry, asking, "What _exactly_ happened before dinner?"

Embry was certain that Emily already knew. It had happened right in front of her eyes, and with Quil's silent corroboration, there was no doubt in her mind what had gone down between Embry and Julia. Now she just needed to hear it from Embry himself.

"Oh, uh, nothing crazy or anything," he said sheepishly, trying and failing to appear more composed than he felt. He couldn't help but grin, however, as he confirmed what Emily suspected. It felt amazing to be able to say it out loud. "I imprinted. On Julia."

Emily, hearing what she had been expecting, smiled up at her fiancée with excitement in her eyes. Sam, however, didn't quite share her sense of elation. Embry could practically see the gears turning in his head. Clearly, he _hadn't_ been expecting that. A phenomenon that he had once regarded as rare was proving to be anything but, as Embry was now the sixth shape shifter to have imprinted. Besides that, he had been reminding his pack for the past few days that they would need to be careful in protecting their secret around Emily's cousin - only to find out now that she would have to be one more person included in on it.

"I guess we can just… Sit her down and explain everything. The sooner she knows the truth, the easier it will be for-" Embry began to say, only to be cut off by Emily.

" _No,"_ Emily said firmly, her eyes going wide and her previously happy demeanor turning to slight panic. She dropped the sponge she had been holding into the sink, turning fully to face Sam and Embry. "Not so soon, she just got here!"

"But Emily," Embry protested, his eyes pleading. "She's only here for a month!"

"I don't care," she said stubbornly. "She's nervous enough as it is being around all of you right now. Trust me, I can read her like an open book. Give it until after the wedding, at the very least. Besides, you need to take some time to actually get to know her."

Embry groaned. Emily had a point. However, he already knew he was on a time crunch here - eventually, Julia would have to return home to Port Orchard. Waiting around for weeks before he could tell her about the pack secret and the imprint seemed like it would be torturous. On the other hand, having some time before he could explain things to Julia would allow him to figure out the best possible way to go about it.

"Then you'll just have to wait, Embry," Sam didn't have to use his alpha voice to make it clear that there was no other option.

"Thank you," Emily said, leaning in close to Sam to give him a peck on the cheek. She turned apologetically to Embry. "Sorry. I know my cousin well. If you spring this on her right now… I can _guarantee_ that she'll freak out. The more comfortable she gets around you, the better."

Sam nodded in agreement, saying, "Just let the imprint bond work its magic."

Embry could understand where they were coming from. He would never purposefully want to cause Julia any distress. He'd wait, for her sake. Besides, there was nothing that he wanted more than to get to know his soul mate.

"I'm so happy for you," Emily continued in a sincere tone of voice. "You're going to love her."

Embry sighed dreamily, a surreal feeling washing over him.

"I already do."


	8. Chapter 8: Reintroduction

A/N: Hey friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? This semester has really kicked my you know what, but I'm glad to finally be uploading something.

Due to an unfortunate combination of my life pulling me in 500 different directions and writer's block, I'm not 100% in love with how this chapter turned out. It's been so long since my last update, though, that I'd rather put out something I'm okay with and fix it up later if I feel so inclined than wait any longer. So I apologize if this chapter is kind of sucky. Oh well, only means they can get better from here!

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Chapter 8: Reintroduction

Julia loved lacrosse partly because it was fast-paced, high energy, and exciting to play or just watch. Baseball, on the other hand, was _none_ of those things.

Nestled into a spot on one of the couches next to Seth, she tried her best to get into the game. The Seattle Mariners were currently losing by two to the Texas Rangers after the fourth inning. At least she understood that much. The Seattle player at bat swung once, twice, then three times, striking out. There was a collective groan from the four guys sitting around her.

"If they could just hit the ball…" Seth said, shaking his head.

"I have that guy on my fantasy team. How do you think I feel right now?" Brady complained.

"Since when is fantasy _baseball_ a thing?"

"Uh, since _forever_."

Watching as the Mariners took to the outfield, Julia only partially listened to Seth try to convince Brady that he "would totally win a fantasy baseball league" if only he knew about it. Now that she had spent a little bit of time around these boys, she was starting to feel slightly less overwhelmed. They reminded her vaguely of the guys from the lacrosse team back at her high school - there was a sense of camaraderie and togetherness that flowed naturally between them. Julia wondered how such a big group had gotten to be so close, especially seeing as how their personalities seemed to be so different. Of course, La Push was small… Even smaller than Neah Bay. They had probably all gone to school together, or maybe worked together. Julia's train of thought was interrupted upon realizing that the empty spot to her left on the couch had suddenly become occupied.

Embry was more thrilled than any normal person probably should have been upon walking into the living room to find that there was room for him to sit next to Julia. He had to admit though, it was a pretty tight fit on the couch with both her and Seth sitting there already. Not like it bothered him much.

Julia shifted uncomfortably, barely making eye contact with him, "Do you have enough room? I can get up if you want."

"No!" Embry exclaimed, earning him looks from his fellow pack members. He had finally gotten the chance to sit with her for the first time today and she was suggesting that she _get up?_ Julia's eyes met his for the first time since dinner. He was close to losing himself in them again… Until he realized she looked slightly put off by his reaction. Quickly correcting the urgency in his tone of voice, he said, "Uh, no. I'm fine. As long as you're comfortable."

"I'll be alright," Julia replied simply with a nod, turning her attention back to the baseball game.

Embry mentally cursed himself out. He really needed to get a handle on this imprint thing, _fast,_ before he ended up really freaking her out. He knew he wasn't acting like himself - rarely did he ever lose his cool like he did today - but he was having a hard time getting his mind under control. There were so many new thoughts and feelings that he just didn't know how to process yet. The only thing he knew for certain at the moment was that he had to be close to Julia.

Julia sat in silence between Seth and Embry, unsure of whether or not to try and strike up a conversation. She felt slightly awkward being so close to Embry, especially after their weird encounter before dinner, and just now when he'd been a little too enthusiastic about her not moving from the couch.

Embry did what he could to fight the urge to drape his arm around Julia's shoulders, playing with his hands in his lap to keep himself occupied. He occasionally glanced over at her, but her gaze never left the television. After about fifteen minutes, Embry heard the creaking of the screen door and the light thuds of footsteps as someone entered Emily and Sam's house and made their way back to the living room. Caught up in the unexpected excitement of imprinting, he had almost forgotten about tonight's obligation. Groaning internally, his gaze drifted toward the threshold as Leah made her grand entrance.

"Embry, are you ready to go? The sooner we get this started, the sooner…" her voice trailed off as she noticed the one unusual face between Embry and Seth. The only noise that filled the air as everyone looked up at Leah was the voices of the announcers coming from the television.

"So…" Seth started cautiously. "Do you remember Julia Young?"

Leah blinked at her brother, her expression blank as she processed his question.

"Of course," she said emotionlessly as she gave Julia a once-over. "How could I forget the girl who was stuck onto Emily like a leech the last time she came here?"

Embry watched as Julia averted her gaze. The comment had obviously not resonated well with her. He narrowed his eyes at Leah, aggravated that she would say something intentionally rude to his imprint. Well, she didn't know about that little piece of information yet - but when she did, Embry would make sure that she wouldn't say anything like that again.

"Nice to see you too, Leah," Julia said quietly as she stood up from the couch, doing her best to give a half-smile. Excusing herself, she left the room, eyes glued to the ground.

After waiting for Julia to walk past her and out of the room, Leah rolled her eyes and immediately went back to business.

"Well, are you ready to go or not?" she looked at Embry expectantly, but he kept quiet. He had thought that ever since their sincere conversation, she had been making progress in developing some sense of empathy. Now, the idea of spending the next six hours with her made him want to scream. "What's your problem?"

Embry stood up, annoyance clear in his expression, "Would it kill you to just be _nice_ once in a while?"

He walked past her, leaving her in the living room. Behind him, he heard Seth start to defend him in his absence.

Embry found Emily and Sam still in the kitchen. Emily, with Sam's help, had finished the dishes and was talking animatedly to him about their wedding details as he entered.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but," he said, rushing through his words. "Do you know where Julia went?"

"Just out for a walk. I told her about the little path behind the house," Emily said. With a curious look on her face, she added, "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know. Leah was just being… Well, Leah," he said, deciding to spare her the details. She sighed, nodding in understanding. He quickly thanked Emily, finding his shoes where he had left them by the door and pulling them on as fast as he could. He was about to step outside until Sam's authoritative voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Embry… Just because you've imprinted doesn't mean you can shrug off your responsibilities. You still have to patrol tonight."

After a brief pause, Embry chose his words carefully, "I won't be long."

"I hope not."

Taking that as his alpha's blessing, Embry made his way out the door and around the side of the house to the familiar trail out back. Oftentimes, especially during the day, he and his fellow pack members would follow it from the forest back to the house when returning after patrols. It was private and well hidden from the public eye - basically the perfect place to go from a giant wolf to human being in a split second. The sun was just beginning to go down, casting a golden glow around the tops of the trees. A day as nice as this was a rare occurrence on the Olympic peninsula. If he hadn't been so concerned with the mental state of his newfound imprint, he would have made more of a point to enjoy it.

He was happy to see that Julia hadn't made it very far. Jogging lightly to close the distance between them faster, Embry tried his best not to startle her.

"Hey," he called out, making her stop and turn to look at him. Her dark hair swung free from where she had it tucked behind her ear, but she immediately fixed it. She gave his approaching figure a quizzical look. Why had he followed her out here?

In an instant, a wave of nerves washed over Embry. This wasn't how he anticipated he'd spend his first time alone with his imprint. He took a deep breath and continued.

"I'm sorry… About what Leah said back there. She doesn't think before she speaks sometimes."

Julia's expression relaxed, almost seeming amused, "It's okay. You don't have to apologize on her behalf."

She turned away from him, beginning to walk again at a slow pace. Embry followed her, falling into step beside her.

"No, it's not okay. What she said was uncalled for and you seemed upset," Embry was proud of himself. It had only taken three tries, but he was finally able to have a meaningful conversation with Julia without stumbling over his words. However, to his utter surprise and confusion, she laughed. Nothing about what Leah had said to her had been funny, yet she was brushing it off like it was nothing.

"I'm not upset," Julia proclaimed in an indifferent tone of voice. She sounded convincing, but she was lying through her teeth. Ever since she had spent time with the Clearwaters that one summer as a child, she had an idea of what Leah thought about her. Annoying, clingy, in the way… For no reason other than that Emily's energy and attention was diverted away from Leah. Even though they had all grown up, it was very apparent that Leah still thought of her as annoying, clingy, and in the way.

"But… You just up and left," Embry's statement sounded more like a question.

"To be honest, I just got sick of watching baseball," Julia's eyes met Embry's as she gave him a wry smile.

Embry chuckled, but he knew she was holding something back. He could feel it.

"So you left because you're not a baseball fan. That simple, huh?" he watched as she nodded enthusiastically. "Somehow I don't believe that."

Julia wasn't going to give herself up so easily. Not to a guy she had just met a few hours ago, and that couldn't seem to behave normally around her until now.

"Well, that and I was dying to get outside," she explained, looking up at the trees towering above them and then back to Embry. That part wasn't necessarily a lie. She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh woodsy air. "We don't exactly have all this back in suburbia."

That explanation seemed to be sufficient enough for him. He nodded slowly, gaze shifting to his feet for a minute as they walked together in silence.

Embry was satisfied to know that even if Leah _had_ upset Julia, she didn't seem to be dwelling on it. Now that the issue at hand was resolved, he needed to find some other way to continue the conversation. Clearing his throat, he spoke up again.

"Anyways… I also just wanted to apologize if I made things a little awkward when…" Embry shook his head. He didn't like how that sounded. "I mean, I know we got off to a weird start…"

Before deciding how he wanted to proceed from there, he looked over at Julia to gauge her reaction. She was gazing off into the distance, nodding to herself.

"Yeah, it was a weird start, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Embry felt his cheeks burn in a way that wasn't caused by his wolf genes, embarrassed that he had made that kind of first impression on her. It was quiet between the two of them for a moment. "Well… Would you wanna try again?"

A smile crept slowly across Julia's face, much to Embry's relief. This was a second chance she'd be happy to give, especially now that she wasn't a bundle of nerves. She stopped walking abruptly, catching Embry off guard. She turned to face him and offered her hand.

"Hi, I'm Julia Young," she said, her smile still in place for him. It made Embry's heartbeat quicken in the best way. "Nice to meet you."

"Hi, I'm Embry Call. Nice to meet you, too," he returned the smile, taking her hand in his like he had done the first time he had introduced himself. It all felt so _right_ , however he made sure to let go before he made the same mistake he did before. Thinking about how in the near future, he would be able to do more than just hold her hand was enough of a consolation.

"Now _that_ was a much better handshake," she said, poking fun at him as they turned and continued to walk together. She was glad to know that he really wasn't as awkward as he had seemed earlier. He was probably just shy, and how could she fault him for that? She had been, too.

Embry knew he didn't have much time left with Julia for now. In the back of his mind, he could practically hear Leah bitching him out for being late to patrol, but he couldn't just leave without knowing when he could see her again.

"So, uh… What do you have planned for tomorrow?"

Julia shrugged, "Nothing, really. I kind of wanted to explore a bit. Be outside. Get acquainted with La Push, you know?"

This was his opportunity.

"Well I could show you around a little, if you wanted," Embry offered. He held his breath, waiting for her response.

"...Sure, why not?"

Embry's heart skipped a beat. She said yes! He could barely control the grin that was now spreading from ear to ear.

"Really?! I mean…Great! I can stop by at around noon. If that's okay with you?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

Embry was on cloud nine, and he would have stayed there throughout his shift if it weren't for the fact that he had to share his headspace with Leah.

 _What are you so happy about? Sam is going to have your head on a silver platter for being late,_ she chided him immediately after he phased. She was on the eastern border of the reservation, heading south as the sun slipped below the horizon. Embry ran in her direction to find her.

 _I don't care._

 _Well, you should._

 _Sam already knew I was going to be a little late today,_ Embry replied. He didn't really feel like arguing with Leah right now.

 _You should still care. Look, I'm about to drop a bomb on you, buddy... Sam and Jared are going to pay the Cullens a visit tomorrow._

Sam and Jared were going to the Cullens' house tomorrow? That was certainly out of the ordinary. They hadn't been in much contact with the vampire coven in the past couple of years. Even when they did need to relay messages, Jacob was usually happy to be their liaison, since he had practically joined their family.

 _Why would they go to see the Cullens out of the blue?_ Embry wondered.

 _Our favorite blood sucking psycho - excuse me, psychic - had a vision,_ Leah said, sarcasm apparent in her tone. _They called up Sam last week and said it was important that they meet up to talk as soon as possible. They've been out on a hunting trip I guess, so it had to wait til they got back._

Embry was confused, to say the least. This was the first time he was hearing of this.

 _Wait a minute, how do you know about all of this and I don't?_

 _Jared accidentally thought about it during his patrol with Seth yesterday. And Seth, being the blabbermouth he is, told me,_ Leah recalled the conversation in her head. _You know, if Jared eventually wants to be a good alpha, he can't just let stuff slip like that…_

Embry slowed his pace as soon as he saw flashes of Leah's grey-colored fur. The two wolves had met each other now in a clearing not too far off from the Clearwater residence.

 _Okay, but that's besides the point,_ Embry stated. _Why would Sam keep that from the rest of us?_

 _He doesn't want to raise a false alarm,_ Leah said simply, adding, _But then again, haven't you noticed how much more the pack has been out patrolling lately?_

Now that she mentioned it, Embry realized that they _had_ been out more often.

 _Do you think it's something really serious?_ He asked.

 _I suppose we'll find out tomorrow. The Cullens were coming back today, so we probably would have known about if it already if weren't for Emily making such a big deal about her cousin-_

Julia. Of course. He had to give Leah at least a _little_ bit of hell for what she had said earlier that evening.

 _Oh, that reminds me,_ Embry interrupted her, sitting on his haunches. _Now it's my turn to drop a bomb on you_ …

Embry replayed the memory of his first time meeting Julia in his head for Leah to see. The rush of thoughts and feelings from his imprinting came along with the mental images, as Leah experienced everything that had happened through Embry's eyes.

 _Okay, so you're telling me that you_ imprinted _on Emily's cousin?_ She asked incredulously. Leah didn't want to believe it. Now there would be a reason for Julia to stick around long after the wedding was over, and she wasn't happy about it.

 _Exactly,_ Embry confirmed her fear. _So it doesn't really matter what you think of her. She's a part of this pack now whether you like it or not._

Leah huffed out loud, shaking her head as she paced around Embry in a circle. She would never swallow her pride and admit that he was right. So instead, she complained.

 _First Emily, then Claire. And now… Ugh. What is so special about that family that they have half of this pack completely head over heels?_ she thought, annoyed. It was almost as if she had forgotten that Embry could hear her.

Embry stood up again and trotted off to resume his patrol, leaving Leah alone in the clearing. Being in her presence when she was in one of her moods was completely draining. Though he physically made his way further from her, the connection of the pack mind still allowed him to hear exactly what she thought about his imprinting. It just wasn't fair, she decided. It wasn't fair that the women of the Young family get their happy ending, but she doesn't. How their genes secure for them a life where they will love and be loved in the truest sense of the word, but her genes force her into an unwanted role as protector of La Push. Why was it always her that had to draw the short straw...

 _A congratulations or something would have been nice_ , he thought, interrupting her train of thought. He could barely stand to listen to her anymore.

 _...Congrats,_ she replied in resignation, her tone flat. The rest of their shift was spent in familiar silence.

At least Embry had tomorrow to look forward to.


	9. Chapter 9: Interruption

A/N: I've returned from the void to post yet another spontaneous update. Even when I've been inactive for months, I still get little emails that people are following and favoriting and it makes my day tbh! Hope this finds you in good spirits!

Suggested listening: Julia by the Beatles

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" _Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you, Julia._

 _Julia, Julia, ocean child, calls me…_

 _Julia, seashell eyes, windy smile, calls me…"_

Chapter 9: Interruption

"Hey Jules, how did you sleep?"

Julia had made her way downstairs for the first time that day to find Emily stationed at the kitchen table, affixing tiny pink flowers to place cards for her wedding guests. It was almost exactly a week until the event, and the bride-to-be wasn't wasting any time in her preparation.

"Longer than I should have," she admitted, making her way to the refrigerator. She had decided to delay breakfast in order to sleep in for the first time since school ended, and the growling of her stomach confirmed that it wasn't one of her best ideas. Rummaging around, she pulled out a gallon of milk, then found an open box of Cheerios in the cupboard.

"I was wondering why I didn't see you all morning."

Julia joined her cousin at the table, grabbing a banana from the basket of fruit on her way over.

"I don't usually like to sleep in," she said, eyeing the sea of place cards spread out on the table before her. Many were for members of her extended family from the Makah reservation. She even found her own name somewhere in the middle of them. It made the upcoming wedding feel more real, more imminent.

"What teenager doesn't like sleeping in?" Emily gave her cousin a quizzical look.

"One that's too used to getting up for early morning practices on the weekends," Julia said matter-of-factly between spoonfuls of her cereal.

"Understandable. What's on the agenda for today?" her cousin inquired, feigning a nonchalant tone. Emily knew very well what Julia would be up to today, thanks to a phone call from a nervous Embry earlier that morning.

Julia shrugged, "Nothing major. Embry offered to show me around the rez, so I took him up on it."

"Oh?" Emily did everything in her power to stifle the smirk that threatened to play across her lips. "And what time is this supposed to happen?"

Julia glanced at the clock above the stove. It was currently eleven forty-five.

"About fifteen minutes," she replied, quickly finishing her food and bringing the bowl over to the sink.

"Well, I'm glad that Sam's friends are making you feel welcome here," Emily said, letting her smile take over now that her cousin's back was turned. As soon as she focused again on her crafting, the creaking of the screen door leading to the porch made her head snap up once again. "Speaking of Sam, I really need to have him fix that door…"

The sound of footsteps sounded through the kitchen, followed by a male voice saying, "Morning Emily, Julia..."

Julia turned around to find Embry standing just inside the threshold. He looked almost too happy to see her. His smile was so intense that it made Julia a little uncomfortable, causing a warmth to spread involuntarily across her cheeks.

"I'm a little early, I know. If you're not ready to go, that's okay. I can wait," Embry said to her. Truth be told, he had been ready to come hours ago, mind buzzing with the thought of getting to see her again. He had waited around all morning, dodging questions from his mom about why he suddenly seemed so chipper until he couldn't take it anymore and made the trip to Emily's on foot.

"Oh, I just... Have to go grab some shoes," Julia said, taking a step back toward the staircase. Why did she suddenly feel so nervous? "I'll just be a minute."

Julia felt his gaze linger on her as she ducked away up the stairs. After slipping on her favorite pair of Converse in the privacy of her room, she paused in front of the mirror in the corner. Caught up in sudden doubt, she stared back at her own reflection, absentmindedly playing with the bottom hem of her top. Her nerves started to make sense. The last time she had been alone with a guy, it had been with her now-ex boyfriend. She didn't really know what to expect. She wasn't like her extroverted best friend, who seemed to be able to go up and have a conversation with any guy she fancied. It had been Natalie who had pushed her to try flirting with Ben in the first place. Now, she was about to be one-on-one with a boy she just met yesterday. Of course, things with Embry weren't like _that..._ They were acquaintances at the very most.

Still, the unknown stressed her out more than she would have liked it to. Where would Embry take her? What would they do? What would they talk about…? Usually with the lacrosse guys she was friends with, she talked about sports. Did Embry even _like_ sports?

Julia sighed, snapping herself out of her jumbled thoughts and made her way out of her room. She didn't want to keep him waiting too long.

As she descended the stairs, Julia could hear Emily speaking to Embry in a hushed tone.

"Well, she _was_ …"

She slowed her pace, trying to find some context to the conversation. It was difficult when she could only hear bits and pieces through the wall. Julia knew it wasn't polite to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help her curiosity, especially since she began to get the feeling that the conversation wasn't meant for her ears. What could Emily be hiding from her? It wasn't like her cousin to keep secrets from her.

As she silently entered the kitchen again, she caught Emily mid-sentence.

"Didn't take it very well… She'll open up when she's-"

"Ready," Julia announced herself. Her cousin turned around, eyes going wide for a split second before quickly busying herself with her place cards once more. Julia heard Embry laugh quietly at Emily. As she crossed the room, she had the uncomfortable realization that they had been talking about _her._

"Have a nice time, Jules," Emily said hastily. She forced the corners of her mouth up, even though her body language made her look tense.

"See you later, Em," Julia said, barely making eye contact with her cousin. Embry held the screen door open for her as she stepped out onto the porch.

It was nowhere near as nice outside as it had been yesterday. While it wasn't gloomy and rainy, the sun had disappeared behind the clouds, taking the warm touch of its rays with it. Trying to push her nerves and the overheard bits of conversation out of her head, Julia breathed in the fresh air as she made her way down the steps and onto the dirt driveway. Embry wasn't far behind her.

"How did you get here?" she asked him, noticing that the driveway was absent of any cars, including Sam's truck. Hopefully he hadn't come all the way here on foot just for her.

"I walked," Embry shrugged it off as if it were nothing, confirming her suspicions.

"Oh. Wow… Hopefully wherever you're taking me is within walking distance, then," Julia gave a nervous laugh. This day was already off to an interesting start.

Embry made his way to her side, then lead her away from the house. He reassured her, "Stop one is just a short walk from here. After that, it's up to you."

"I'm really not that picky. As long as we're outside, I'm up for anything."

"Hmm…" Embry thought for a moment as they walked side-by-side up the dirt road. When he had asked for her opinion on where to take Julia, Emily had mentioned how they spent lots of time by the water together when they were younger. "How about the beach?"

He looked down at her just in time to see her face light up at the mention of the beach.

"That sounds perfect," Julia couldn't help but let her grin spread from ear to ear. She had all but forgotten about the long stretches of sand covering the western border of the reservation, the ones that were so similar to those she frequented as a child in Neah Bay. "I've been looking forward to seeing the ocean again. There's just something magical about it."

"Definitely," Embry agreed, secretly reveling in the joy his suggestion had given her. Her happiness made him happy.

 _So this is what having an imprint feels like…_ he thought, trying and failing to keep a neutral expression. He simply couldn't help it.

As they walked together quietly, Embry reluctantly kept some physical distance between the two of them for Julia's sake. He wanted nothing more than to be closer to her, hands intertwined as they traveled farther away from Sam and Emily's. However, he had promised Emily that he would take things slow, and he wasn't one to break promises. Meanwhile, Julia found it almost hard to keep up with Embry. His stride was much bigger than hers, forcing her to pick up the pace just so she wouldn't fall behind.

Julia figured that now would be as good of a time as ever to try to get some information out of him. How she ended up having dinner with an additional seven teenage and twenty-something boys was still a mystery to her. She cleared her throat, putting Embry on the spot, "So, how do you know Sam?"

"Uh, well… We went to school together," Embry stated, making something up on the fly. Sam was a full four years older than him, meaning they never would have gone to high school with each other. Of course, Julia didn't know that. While he hated having to lie to her, Embry knew that once she found out the truth about the pack, it wouldn't matter.

"I see," she replied, seeming to accept his half-assed explanation. "Small town, everyone is friends with each other. Same as it was in Neah Bay."

They had just about reached a short driveway. At the end of it, Julia observed two buildings. One was a small, single-level house with red siding and white trim. A ramp was attached to the front stoop. Standing slightly behind it was a smaller building that looked to be in worse condition. The outside seemed generally unkempt, featuring dirty glass window panes and paint that was chipped in various places. There was a rusted garage door that was currently closed, and a plain white door next to it that was propped open with a large piece of firewood.

"We're here," Embry announced, starting down the driveway toward the more battered-looking building. Julia followed a few paces behind him.

"Where exactly is _here_? Do you live here?" she asked, looking around at the lot. There were two cars sitting in the driveway, indicating that someone was already home. One was an ancient-looking Volkswagen hatchback. It's red paint job nearly matched that of the house. The other was a tan pickup truck which seemed to at least be from this decade.

 _So I guess everyone around here really does drive a truck,_ Julia thought.

"My friend Jake lives here with his dad and sister. This is his shop, but he lets Quil and I work out of it," Embry explained, pausing just outside of the door to wait for her to catch up with him.

"As in work on cars?" Julia guessed. Embry nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, bikes too. It's kind of our thing. Plus I make some money on the side doing repairs for people. I finally have enough saved up to get a car of my own. I'm going up to Forks soon to look at one with Quil..."

While Embry delivered his long-winded explanation, Julia stopped to look him in the eyes before heading into the shop.

"You know, I didn't have you pegged down as a car guy."

As he walked in after her, Embry shook his head and gave a throaty chuckle.

"And what kind of guy _did_ you have me pegged down as?"

"...I don't know. I've never met anyone who was interested in fixing cars."

Right. This girl was an athlete, Embry remembered. All of the guys she talked to back home were probably athletes, too. Their worlds were pretty much polar opposites and rarely intersected. Although he knew they were soulmates, destined by the spirits to be perfect for each other, he couldn't help but puzzle over whether or not she considered him to be her type at all. Furthermore, he wondered how he compared to guys she had previously been with... Guys like the boyfriend Emily had just told him that she recently broke up with. Emily, trying to make sure Julia didn't hear their conversation, wouldn't give him any specifics. From what she did say, however, he got the impression that Julia had been very invested in him.

Embry watched as Julia looked around, her steadfast gaze studying the inside of the workshop. Despite their obvious social differences, he realized deep down inside they were kindred spirits - silent observers of the world around them, taking in and analyzing every little detail.

"Brace yourself, you're about to meet another one," Jacob's voice suddenly broke Embry's fixation on his imprint. Caught up between her and his train of thought, he had almost forgotten about the red hatchback in the driveway signaling that his friend was home.

"Uh, Jake, this is Julia. She's Emily's cousin," Embry said, motioning to Jacob's unfamiliar guest. Julia turned her attention to him, walking over to where he was seated.

"Jacob Black. Nice to meet you," he said, putting down the tools he was holding and wiping the grime off of his hands using his t-shirt. Jacob, Julia observed, looked strikingly similar to Embry, Sam, and the rest of their friends - tall and muscular, with his dark hair cropped short. For what seemed like the millionth time in the span of two days, she formally introduced herself and shook his hand. Much like Embry's had been, it seemed unusually hot, almost feverish. There was something _odd_ about these La Push boys, she decided, but she had no idea what.

"How long have you been working on that?" she asked, motioning to Jacob's current project. It was an old motorcycle. The wheels had been removed and the body was missing it's paint in a few places, but overall it looked to be in an alright condition.

"A month, on and off. I haven't been as dedicated as I should be," Jacob responded sheepishly as she took a look at it. She had never actually seen a motorcycle up close before.

While Julia was distracted, Embry quickly caught his friend's eye, mouthing the word _imprint_ and nodding toward her. Jacob raised his brows in surprise, mouthing back a simple question: _yours?_ After confirmation from Embry, he responded with his signature _I-told-you-so_ smirk.

"How about you," Julia said, turning to look at Embry as Jacob went back to his work. "Do you have a project?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a project anymore," he explained, walking over to another bike that was propped up in the corner of the shop. This one looked more put together than Jacob's. It was completely intact, wheels and all, and even cleaned up a bit. "It's pretty much done. Just have to double-check a couple of things."

Julia, spotting a couch on the wall opposite of where the two boys mused over their bikes, went over and sat down. She watched as Embry carefully inspected the work he had done so far, occasionally making adjustments. Even though she didn't have much automotive knowledge, she could appreciate his thoroughness and attention to detail. As he worked, he chatted with Jake, who apparently was passing the time until he could go see someone named Nessie.

"Looks pretty good to me," he said after a while, lifting up the kick stand with his foot and taking the bike by the handles. He glanced at Julia, a twinkle in his eye. "Only thing left to do is test it out."

"My mom always said that if she ever caught me on the back of someone's motorcycle, I'd be grounded for the rest of my life," Julia said, only half-joking. Somewhere in the background, she heard Jacob stifle a snort. She watched as Embry wheeled the bike to the entrance of the shop, having an idea of what was to come next.

"Then it's a good thing that she isn't here right now."

Embry opened the garage door, allowing the pale, blue-grey glow of the overcast sky to trickle in. The only noises that filled the silence between them now were a classic rock song coming from a radio somewhere in the shop and the sound of metal clinking as Jacob worked on his own motorcycle. Julia stood up, then slowly walked over to Embry.

"So… I'm guessing this is my ride to the beach?" she asked, eyeing him as he climbed onto the bike. He nodded happily in affirmation, giving her a reassuring smile.

Julia took a deep, steading breath before swinging her leg over the back of the seat behind Embry. The bike's engine roared to life, and she timidly wrapped her arms around Embry's torso. There were two things she immediately noticed - the first was the inexplicable, intense heat radiating from his body. As unusual as it was, it was oddly soothing to her. The second was that he _definitely_ had abs… Which was so totally _not_ helping her nerves at the moment.

A wave of euphoria washed over Embry as Julia pressed into his back, holding herself close to him. He could feel her heartbeat quicken as he picked his feet up off the ground, letting the bike inch forward. He called out a hasty goodbye to Jacob as the two of them left the garage behind and made their way to the road.

"Don't be scared. I won't let anything happen to you. Promise," Embry said loud enough for Julia to hear.

"I never said I was scared," she asserted, laughing as if she had something to hide behind her amusement.

If someone would have told her two days ago that this was how she'd be spending her first full day on the rez, Julia would have scoffed at them. She had expected to have a pretty boring first couple of days until she figured out what to do with her time in La Push. Yet here she was, on the back of a motorcycle belonging to a boy who was practically a stranger to her. She knew her mom would have a fit if she ever found out about this.

As they started down the road, Julia could feel the bike start to gain speed. Almost involuntarily, her hold on Embry tightened. She watched the trees quickly passing by as the two of them cruised farther and farther away from Jacob's house. Before she knew it, they were driving along the coast, heading toward the main part of town. Julia had eased into the seat a bit more, getting used to the sensation of being on a motorcycle. Now, she felt almost as if she were flying. It was exhilarating.

To her left, Julia could now see the ocean peaking through open spots between the trees. She couldn't believe how fast they seemed to have gotten across the reservation. Within a few minutes, Embry had slowed down and pulled into a parking lot about a hundred feet away from a trail leading to the beach. They didn't have much company, as there were were only a few other cars in the parking lot.

It wasn't until she got off the motorcycle that Julia was finally able to catch her breath.

"Jeez," she breathed, running a hand through her messy, windswept hair. Embry, propping the bike up in its parking space, tried to gauge her reaction and feared the worst. "That was… _Awesome._ "

Embry cracked a relieved smile, "Glad you enjoyed it."

"Never in a million years did I think I'd ever have the guts to ride a motorcycle," she replied, shaking her head in disbelief. Embry led her down the short trail and onto the rocky beach.

"So you _were_ scared, huh?" he asked, giving her a smirk that told her he could see through whatever act she would try to pull off. She could say whatever she wanted, but there was no denying that he felt the pounding of her heart against his back during the entire drive. She had been, at the very least, a _little_ bit nervous.

"Well… You know what they say," Julia said, trying to redeem herself. "Being fearless isn't about not ever being afraid of anything. It's about being scared, but doing it anyways… Or something like that. Right?"

"I like that. Very philosophical," Embry said, nodding in validation. They had reached the part where the dirt of the trail met the sand. "Anyways, welcome to First Beach."

Julia turned her full attention to the vast body of water in front of her. She took slow steps, as if going any faster would make the scene disappear. Even with the lack of sunlight, Julia couldn't imagine a more beautiful place. The dark blue waves of the Pacific ocean seemed to invite her in like an old friend. She took a deep breath, enjoying the calming scent of the salty air that whipped around her, tugging at the tendrils of her hair that she had just fixed after the motorcycle ride. It had been far too long since she had been able to experience this. In a way, it felt like coming home.

Embry held back, letting her have this moment. She looked so at ease, so peaceful, so _happy_ … He decided he'd have to come here with her more often. After a while, he joined her at her side, and the two started down the long stretch of coastline together.

The wind started to pick up, bringing a bit of a chill with it. Julia hugged her arms close to her body, trying to keep warm, and mentally scolded herself for not wearing some kind of jacket. Her long-sleeved shirt just wasn't cutting it right now.

"It's colder than I thought it would be," she said absentmindedly, tucking a bit of hair that had flown out of place behind her ear. Without missing a beat, Embry removed the flannel he had layered on and placed it around Julia's shoulders. She noticed how his hands lingered a little longer than what she would consider to be normal.

"Embry, you don't have to-"

"It's okay. You need it more than I do," he insisted. In fact, he didn't need it at all. Having a body temperature ten degrees hotter than the average human had its perks. He watched as Julia reluctantly slipped her arms inside of the shirt. It hung around her loosely, swaying with the wind. Embry thought it was comical - and adorable - how big it was on her.

"Won't you get cold, though?" she asked, eyeing his exposed arms.

"I think I'll be alright," Embry grinned at her. If only she knew.

"Thanks," she gave him an appreciative smile, then lead him over to a log big enough for the both of them to share.

They sat for a while with just enough space in between them, watching the waves roll in and out over the rocky shore. Embry liked that Julia didn't feel compelled to constantly make small talk - she was perfectly comfortable with silence. He glanced over at her, taking the opportunity to really look at her up close. She was by no means a supermodel, but to him she was simply stunning. As she gazed out over the Pacific, he studied her features. Her round cheekbones were rosy from the cool wind, and her full lips were pressed into a neutral line. Her dark brown eyes remained fixated on the water, giving nothing away. Embry could see that she was keeping her guard up. He wished she wouldn't.

"So," Julia asked, attempting to strike up some kind of conversation. "Where does the name Embry come from?"

Embry chuckled to himself. He figured she would ask at some point. Everyone did.

"Some soap opera star my mom had a thing for back in the day," he explained. "It's a little weird, I know."

"No, not weird. It's a nice name."

"Tell that to the rest of the guys. Quil and I get so much shit," Embry couldn't help but be glad that she didn't think his name was completely odd. He decided he would turn the tables on her now. "Where does the name Julia come from?"

"Julia is a common name," she replied nonchalantly. No one ever asked her about her name. No one ever really cared. "Nothing special about it."

"Humor me."

"Okay then. I was named after the song Julia, by the Beatles. My dad loved them. He would sing me that song every night when I was little," she said, smiling sadly at the water. Recalling it made her miss him terribly. Embry knew the song, thinking about how fitting it was not just for her, but for this moment. However, he immediately picked up on her nonverbal cue.

"Are you guys close..?" he asked hesitantly, feeling as if he might be treading dangerous waters. He didn't want to upset her, but he couldn't help his curiosity. He wanted to know everything about her, every tiny detail of her life.

"Daddy's little girl," Julia said, her eyes never leaving the waves. Embry nodded, not saying anything. He could tell she was holding something back, but he wasn't going to push her. She could tell him when she was ready to and he was okay with that.

The renewed silence between them was filled only by the rushing sound of the water and the seagulls cawing overhead.

"What about you?" her question caught Embry off guard. For the first time since they had sat down, Julia turned to look at him. "Are you close with your dad?"

Embry hesitated, unsure of how to answer her. He had almost forgotten that she wasn't from La Push, and unlike seemingly everyone else on the tiny reservation, didn't know about his family situation.

"No... Actually, I don't even know who my dad is," he replied. A shocked expression crossed Julia's face, until she realized she was probably being rude. She immediately broke eye contact with him.

"Oh…" she was flustered, feeling embarrassed now for bringing it up. "I-I'm sorry…"

"You don't have to apologize, Julia," Embry insisted. He wanted badly to put his arm around her, to reassure her that it was okay, but he didn't want to overstep any boundaries. "You had no idea."

She took a deep breath, nodding.

"I kind of understand, though, in a way," she said, looking up at him again. Something inside of her told her that she could trust him with this. "Growing up without your dad around, I mean."

Embry gave Julia a confused look. Before he had a chance to ask her to elaborate, however, he heard it... The last thing he wanted to hear at this moment.

The piercing howl of a wolf in the distance filled Embry's ears. He recognized it as belonging to Sam. He immediately froze, feeling his heart sink. That only meant one thing: emergency meeting. _Now._

Embry was certain that Julia had heard Sam's howl. She turned her head to try and decipher which direction it was coming from, asking, "Wow, did you hear that…?"

" _Shit,"_ Embry closed his eyes in resignation, tilting his head back slightly. Of course this would happen to him.

"What's wrong?" Julia asked, brows furrowing together.

"I just, uh… Forgot that my mom asked me to run some errands today," he made up on the spot. Embry realized that it was a lame excuse, but he needed to tell her something, _anything_ even remotely believable.

Embry stood up and without even thinking, offered his hand to Julia to help her to her feet as well. She took it, and in that moment, a wave of tranquility washed over him. He wished with everything in him that he could have been able to stay with her here in this moment, but his responsibility to the pack was too important. It didn't seem fair.

With her hand still in his, he lead her back to his motorcycle to get her back to Emily's as quickly as possible.


	10. Chapter 10: Speculation

A/N: Your girl is done with school for the summer so here's to (hopefully) more updates! I've never made it to ten published chapters on anything I've ever written so this is a big milestone for me. Enjoy.

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Chapter 10: Speculation

The two made it back to the house to find Sam's black truck sitting in the driveway. Embry hastily parked his bike next to it, then followed Julia as she made her way up the steps of the porch. He already felt like enough of an asshole for cutting their outing short, but her silence was somehow making him feel even worse. She paused at the door to the kitchen, turning to face him and say a quick goodbye, but he spoke up before she could say anything.

"Julia, I'm really sorry," Embry said, trying his best to study her facial expression. Unfortunately for him, she had a _really_ good poker face. "Can I make it up to you somehow?"

"Don't worry Embry, it's not a big deal, things come up…" Julia started to reply, trying her best to reassure him. He seemed more upset than she was.

"I still feel bad. Please, let me make it up to you?" Embry wasn't going to give up on this. He knew that if she agreed, it would be an easy in to spend more time alone with her.

Julia bit her lower lip, catching a hit of what sounded like desperation in his voice, "Sure."

"Thanks," he gave her such a genuine smile that Julia couldn't help but give him one in return. Embry looked at her for a second, using every ounce of his self control not to lean down and pull her in for at least a hug before he had to leave. "See you soon?"

"See you soon," she echoed back with a nod, finally opening the door and stepping through the threshold.

Once she was safely inside, Embry did a one-eighty and bounded down the stairs. He was _definitely_ late to whatever meeting Sam had called, and there was no way he'd be getting out of some kind of reprimandation. Thinking back to Julia's arms around him on the motorcycle and them sitting side-by-side on the beach, he decided that whatever it was would be totally worth it.

Embry made his way around the side of the house toward the trail he had walked with Julia just yesterday. Looking back to make sure no one was in the windows to see him, he took off in a jog until he was hidden deep within the trees. He hurriedly shed his clothes, leaving them in a pile just off to the side of the trail behind a bush. He could come back for them later. In an instant, the all-too familiar sensation of phasing enveloped his body. A giant gray wolf now stood in his place. Immediately, the voices began flooding his head…

 _Nice of you to join the party, Embry,_ Paul said sarcastically.

 _Where've you been, dude?_ Seth asked.

 _Sam isn't happy…_ Quil tried to warn him as Embry sprinted to the pack's location as fast as his four legs would carry him. His attempt was futile, however, as Sam was able to listen in.

 _That's the understatement of the century, Quil,_ their alpha interjected. His tone was sour and he seemed on edge. _I hope you have a good explanation, Embry. And no, being with your imprint doesn't count as a good explanation._

 _Yeah, if I can't get off the hook, neither can you,_ Jared snickered at Embry until the realization hit him. _Wait. Imprint? What? Embry Call imprinted on someone? When did this happen?_

 _Literally yesterday,_ Embry had finally found the rest of his pack in a clearing by the edge of the Quillayute River. He was met with sounds of approval from his packmates, who came up to nudge him in congratulations. Everyone except Leah, he noticed, who sat impatiently in the background.

 _Yesterday?_ Paul went through a quick mental highlight reel of what the pack did on Thursday. _It has_ _to be Emily's cousin Julie, right?_

 _Julia,_ he corrected his pack mate. Embry didn't have the heart to be too annoyed at Paul for forgetting her name. He was too busy thinking about the moment everything changed for him, when he first locked eyes with his soulmate.

 _Really?!_ Seth exclaimed, excited. He leapt over to Embry. _That's so awesome! I like her. She's really nice. But kind of shy, so you'll just have to go slow ya know-_

 _That's enough,_ Sam demanded in his alpha voice. _I didn't call an emergency meeting so we could gossip._

Seth bowed his head and flattened his ears, all excitement extinguished. Everyone turned their attention back to Sam, who motioned for Jared to join him in front of the rest of the pack. He wasted no time in getting down to business.

 _I was contacted by the Cullens recently about an impending threat. Jared and I took a trip up to Forks today to speak with them,_ Sam began authoritatively. Remembering their conversation from yesterday's patrol, Embry glanced back at Leah. Her stoney gaze was fixated on a spot slightly above Sam's head - she refused to look him in the eye. Sam turned to Jared, silently signaling for him to continue.

 _Well, uh… The little psychic one, Alice, had a vision,_ Jared didn't seem to know where to look - he kept turning between Sam and the rest of the pack. So far, learning how to be an effective alpha wasn't coming easy to him. _She said they're expecting a visit from a leech they don't know. She thinks he's coming from the south. No idea on when or what the motive is, or even if he's bringing anyone else with him. She advises that we keep our guard up. Way up._

 _But if this blood sucker is just going to see the Cullens… We won't have that much to worry about, will we?_ Brady inquired.

Sam huffed audibly and continued on for Jared, _That's not all she saw._

He painted an image in his mind of a pencil drawing depicting a forest scene. The monochromatic figure of what looked like a dark-haired girl laying face down on the ground served as the focal point.

 _Do we have any idea what human this leech is gonna go after?_ Paul asked. He wasn't particularly receptive to the idea of another Bella Swan-esque situation.

Sam turned to him, body tensed up and a pained look in his eyes.

 _Emily. Alice said it looked like Emily,_ he sounded distraught. _She couldn't see anything else about it, which means we're too involved in the situation. Shapeshifters cloud her visions._

It was nearly silent between the minds of the pack as they replayed the scene in their heads. All of them were well aware of imprints being untouchable. They had to be protected at all costs - no one wanted to find out firsthand what would happen if a pack member lost their soulmate. Sam already went through a scare of his own, and to know that Emily could be in danger again was definitely weighing heavy on him. Embry was certain that it would destroy Sam if anything else were to happen to her.

 _So… What's our plan?_ Embry decided to be the one to break the silence.

 _Excellent question, Embry. We'll start by increasing our patrols, effectively immediately,_ Sam replied coldly. _And since you were so late to today's meeting, you can have the honor of patrolling this evening, from now until midnight._

Embry was stunned. He wasn't supposed to have a shift tonight. He hadn't even eaten since this morning!

 _But… That's almost nine hours…_

It was clear that Sam wasn't going to budge. Jared gave him a look of sympathy.

 _An appropriate punishment, in my opinion. Does anyone want to volunteer to stay with Embry, or do I need to choose?_

It was quiet until Quil stepped forward slowly to volunteer himself, _I'll stay with him._

 _Thank you, Quil,_ Sam nodded in the direction of the chocolate-colored wolf. Embry was grateful that his best friend had been the one to accept the responsibility. It would make the long night more tolerable. _I think that we're just about done here. The rest of you can go._

Every other wolf besides Embry and Quil exited the clearing and left the pack mind as well. Embry, despite being thankful for Quil, felt bad that he had to take on a spontaneous nine-hour patrol shift.

 _It's fine, dude, don't worry about it,_ Quil reassured his friend, giving him a nudge on the shoulder. Embry forgot for a moment that Quil could still hear his thoughts. _So you were with Julia today, huh?_

 _How did you guess?_

The two made their way out of the clearing to start what would undoubtedly be one of the longest patrols either of them had been assigned since the battle with the newborn vampire army. Embry was able to kill some time by recounting the afternoon spent with his imprint in excruciating detail. Luckily, Quil didn't say anything in protest. If he did, Embry would have been all too happy to remind him of how often he listened to stories about Claire.

As the hours pressed on into the night and the pair made their rounds throughout the reservation, Embry found that his thoughts kept circling back to Julia. He simply couldn't help it, especially when he had so many things to speculate. Was she mad at him for cutting things short? He couldn't tell when he had dropped her off at Emily's house. And what had she been about to tell him before they left the beach? Why was she so hesitant to open up to him? He wanted her to know more than anything that she could trust him. Hasn't she felt even a _little_ bit of the imprint bond yet?

 _Dude, you need to stop overthinking everything,_ Quil broke his train of thought. _Just let it happen._

 _Sorry. I just… Don't know. I can't figure her out. She doesn't give me much to go off of. It's so frustrating,_ Embry admitted. _I thought this whole imprint thing would be easier._

 _You've known each other for a_ day, _Embry, you can't expect her to fall into your arms just like that. Think about how long it took for things with Emily and Sam to end up okay._

 _That's kind of a bad example, Quil. Actually, it's a terrible one._

Had they been talking face-to-face as humans, Embry knew that his friend would have given him a huge eye-roll coupled with a you-know-I'm-right look.

 _You know what I'm trying to say, though! Don't worry. Give it some time._

 _Unfortunately, time isn't something I have a whole lot of here._

Embry was grateful that Quil was acting as his voice of reason right now. He was usually pretty good at thinking logically about most situations, but all logic went out the window as soon as he looked into Julia's eyes yesterday.

As if it were happening automatically, Embry felt his body moving him like a magnet through the forest toward Emily's house. He just wanted to check on Julia. That's all.

He finally reached the house, staying hidden among the first line of trees that separated the large backyard from the rest of the forest. Embry gazed with intent up at the window to the guest bedroom, listening carefully for any sound of movement. Soft footsteps coupled with the creaking of floorboards signaled that Julia was safe in her room. Content with that knowledge, Embry made to leave, but the rustling of curtains and the squeaking noise of old wood made him double back.

Standing in the window, still wearing the flannel he had given her earlier that day, was his imprint. That little detail alone made his heart swell. It was as if she knew he had come to check up on her.

Julia looked up over the trees, focused dreamily on the vast number of stars that dotted the sky. Was she thinking about him? Embry hoped that one day, those dark, chocolate-colored eyes would look at him with the same sense of wonder and admiration.

 _What are you doing? She might see you, dude,_ Quil said, pulling him out of his little fantasy. At that same moment, Julia retreated away from the window and back into the privacy of the room.

 _I'm fine. She's not there anymore,_ Embry replied. As much as he appreciated Quil, he could do without him in his head right now. _And you wanna say that I worry too much?_

Turning away from the house, he accidentally stepped on some fallen branches with his large paws. The _snap_ that they made seemed to reverberate around him in the silence between the house and the forest. Embry's head immediately shot up to the window once more to see if Julia heard the noise. To his dismay, she had. She quickly came back to the window, searching in the glow from the light of her room for the source of the sound.

Embry attempted to back away, but only succeeded in making things worse. Julia, attention drawn to the sudden movement, had spotted him among the trees. Without meaning to, he briefly looked into her eyes. Embry watched them go wide before she drew the curtains shut, completely blocking herself from view.

 _Shit…_ was all Embry could think as he finally turned and bolted deep into the forest. _She definitely saw me._

 _That's your own damn fault,_ Quil said in an admonishing tone.

 _I know,_ Embry sighed. _I'm sure she'll forget about it though, right?_

 _Maybe? Let's just focus on getting through the rest of this patrol,_ Quil urged his friend. _We only have a couple more hours and I don't know about you, but I'm starving._

* * *

Staring up at the ceiling from her spot on the bed, Julia tried - and failed - to will her overactive brain to shut up just long enough for her to settle down for the night. It was ten o' clock and she didn't feel the least bit sleepy.

Nothing had gone the way she had expected it to go since arriving in La Push. Her cousin, for whatever reason, played house to a group of guys whose connection to her fiancé was still pretty unclear. A group of _attractive_ guys, at that, which only ended up making her a complete and utter self-conscious mess. Sure, she knew Seth. He was probably the only one of the group that she wasn't apprehensive of. But still, she didn't know him _that_ well, and she had to fight the urge to cling to him like a codependent weirdo.

Speaking of _clinging_ …

Embry suddenly came to mind. Without realizing it until now, she had somehow spent more one-on-one time in the past day with him than Emily and Seth combined. Thinking back to the words exchanged on Emily's porch that afternoon, she deduced that he was determined to add at least a couple more hours to the running total.

Why had Embry seemed so invested in her? His sudden interest definitely hadn't gone unnoticed, especially since they had just met yesterday. Even so, Julia admitted to herself that she had no solid reason to question his intentions. He had been nothing but nice to her so far.

 _Almost a little too nice…_ Julia couldn't help the thought from creeping into her mind. She immediately felt bad about it. He probably could tell she felt a little out of place yesterday and was just trying to be friendly and make her feel less alone. Yes, that had to be it. Another friend here besides Emily and Seth couldn't be a bad thing, right?

 _See? It's fine, Julia. There's nothing wrong with being friends with him._

On the other hand, she had just been about to open up to him about her personal life when things got cut short. If anything, that had to be a sign for her to keep her guard up with him, at least for now. While he did treat her nicely, there was also the lingering knowledge in the back of her mind from earlier that day - his and Emily's private conversation about her that she had walked into had been bothering her for hours now.

Julia, like any teenage girl, feared what might be said about her behind her back. The incident today reminded her about the rumors spread between the lacrosse teams soon after she started dating Ben. The most common was that they had done _it…_ The dirty deed that high schoolers seemed to both crave yet stigmatize at the same time. Remembering the stories made her shudder, despite the fact that none of the scenarios had any merit to them. Julia simply hadn't been ready yet. She hadn't even decided that she wanted to lose her virginity to Ben until… Whatever. It didn't matter anymore. What did matter was that her cousin was being uncharacteristically sketchy. But what did Embry have to do with it?

Julia sighed in frustration. She could feel herself over-complicating this situation, but she didn't know how to stop. Second-guessing everything was starting to become second nature.

Sitting up slowly, she swung her legs off the side of the bed and gazed at the window. After her father died and before they made the move to Port Orchard, her mom would open nearly all of the windows of their house in Neah Bay.

 _Fresh air is good for the soul,_ she explained when Julia had asked her why. _A little breeze always helps me clear my mind._

Julia closed the short distance between the bed and the window, pulling back the curtains and pushing the bottom pane up as far as it would go. The cool air drifted in, bringing the damp, earthy smell of the forest with it. Her mother was right, it _was_ therapeutic. She leaned against the frame, looking out over the vast sea of trees. Just above them, Julia could see stars dotting the sky. It was beautiful. She imagined that someone out there - her father - was watching over her. Feeling at peace, she turned turned her back to the scene. She needed to get some sleep if wanted to get an early morning run in tomorrow before the forecasted rain began to fall.

Suddenly, a loud _crack_ sounded in the yard outside of the window. Julia's head snapped in the direction of the noise. Maybe she really _was_ being watched.

She cautiously peered outside once again, wide eyes searching frantically in the dark for whoever it was that made the loud noise. To her relief, she saw no one in the yard. Out of the corner of her eye, however, movement between the trees caught her attention. She couldn't believe what she saw.

The figure of what seemed to be a giant wolf shifted between the trees. It's sleek fur looked like a deep shade of grey, but in the darkness it could have been black for all she knew. The animal's eyes caught the light from her bedroom. A pang of fear coursed through her - it was looking directly at her.

Without thinking, Julia pulled the curtains closed and backed herself onto the bed, taking in deep breaths. Her mom's warning during their drive to La Push about dangerous animals in the forest quickly crossed her mind.

The thing was _huge_ … So big that she doubted if it was even a wolf at all, or actually a bear. Regardless, she swore that it had made eye contact with her, and that's what scared her the most.

"You're fine, Jules. It can't get you," she muttered to herself, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to burn the image from her brain. She couldn't. "Just sleep it off."

Julia sprung to her feet, then rummaged through her dresser drawers in search of something to wear to bed. It wasn't until she went to undress that she realized she was still wearing Embry's flannel shirt. She slipped it off and hung it neatly on the hook attached to the back of her door. He would most likely be around again soon for her to return it; he didn't seem too concerned about her having it, anyways. After hastily changing clothes and going through her nighttime routine, Julia collapsed into the bed, allowing Emily's handmade quilt to envelop her in a comforting embrace.


	11. Chapter 11: Conversation

Chapter 11: Conversation

Julia's quick, heavy breaths and the sound of her shoes hitting the dirt below her were the only noises that interrupted the peaceful quiet of the morning. Despite knowing the trees around her teemed with life that she couldn't see, in her mind, she had the forest all to herself.

Making it a priority to keep in shape over the summer wasn't hard - she loved to run. She knew she would be doing a lot of it with her new team at Florida Tech to get ready for fall ball. Luckily, it was one of the few things that came easy to her. The mandatory workouts in the gym, however, would be another story…

Stopping to rest before doubling back to the house, Julia wiped away the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead. She filled her lungs with crisp, woodsy air, but her exhale was masked by a sound that was anything but human. A low growl came from behind her, sending a chill all the way down her spine.

Turning around carefully, the first thing she saw was a pair of eyes casting a feral, murderous glare. They were dark and unforgiving; wild in every sense of the word. The creature let out a snarl, bearing a set of sharp canine teeth that Julia knew could easily tear her to shreds. She swallowed hard, wanting nothing more than to run again, this time out of self-preservation. Her legs felt as heavy as lead and her feet seemed frozen to the ground. She tried desperately to move them, but they wouldn't budge. All she had time to do was let out a pathetic scream as the giant grey wolf lunged itself at her and-

Julia's eyes immediately shot open as she sat up in her bed, gasping for air. She clutched at the quilt that had slid off the side of the mattress. It had all been just a dream.

She sighed in relief and let herself fall back onto the pillow, only to sit upright again. Snatching her phone off of the bedside table, she hastily checked the time. It was after nine o' clock. To her dismay, she had slept through the alarm she set last night.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself, flinging back the quilt and walking over to the window she had left open overnight. Before sliding it closed, she glanced outside, discovering that the ground was dry and the sky only partly cloudy. It hadn't rained after all.

Julia decided that the nightmare was a sign that she probably shouldn't go for a run today, opting to take a hot shower instead. However, it did little to ease the qualms the dream brought her. The figure of the wolf seemed to be ingrained in her head. Wandering downstairs after throwing on some clothes and tying her hair into a long braid, the smell of freshly brewed coffee confirmed her hopes that Emily was awake. Maybe her cousin could distract her somehow. Julia found her zooming around the kitchen. Sam was nowhere in sight.

"Morning, Jules," she sang out cheerily, gathering bags of flour, mixing bowls, and pans larger than the state of Washington. "You're up just in time for brunch. Do you want blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes?"

Julia hesitated by the threshold, eyeing the amount of flour Emily had pulled out and getting the feeling that she wasn't cooking for two. Sam's "friends" would probably be joining them shortly.

"Hey, I can make them plain too if that's what you want."

"It's alright Em, I'm not really hungry," Julia finally said, moving to grab a mug out of the cupboard and filling it with hot coffee.

Emily turned to look at her cousin, studying her face and deciding that something was wrong, "Sweetie, are you okay? You look like you didn't sleep very well."

Julia bit her lip, almost embarrassed of the question that sat on the tip of her tongue. Turning to the fridge, she pulled out the milk and added some to her mug. She had no reason to be embarrassed. It was Emily, after all.

"How big do the, uh… Wolves… Get around here?"

Emily immediately stopped what she was doing, her arms going rigid.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Julia shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee and realizing it was too late to go back now. She had to elaborate.

"Well, I think I saw… No, I _definitely_ saw an animal from my window last night. It looked like a wolf. It had the ears and the tail, but…" Julia shook her head, trying to find the right words. "It just looked too _big_ to be a wolf."

Emily, still a bit tense, went back to her cooking, "Do you remember anything else about it?"

"It's fur was dark. Sort of in between grey and black. It looked right at me, Emily. It freaked me out so much I had a nightmare. I can't stop thinking about it."

Emily forced a lighthearted chuckle as she mixed an exorbitant amount of flour and water together in one of her giant bowls, immediately understanding the situation. She made a mental note to give Embry hell the next time she saw him.

"Why is that funny?"

"No reason. You've been stuck in the suburbs for far too long, Jules," she commented, checking to make sure the pans she had placed on each of the stove's four burners were hot enough before pouring the mixture out into imperfect circles. She sprinkled in some blueberries as an idea sparked in her brain. "I think I have something that will help, though. Hang on."

Emily disappeared upstairs briefly and returned with two books in hand. She offered them out to Julia with a big grin.

"Nothing like a little light reading to distract you. Claire loves these."

Julia took the books, reading the title of the one on top aloud as her cousin tended to her pancakes, " _Legends of the Makah Tribe_? Didn't your parents used to read this to us?"

"I knew you would remember. The one on the bottom is a book of Quileute legends. You might find some of them interesting… And informative."

Julia turned the books over in her hand, skimming through the words printed on the back covers as Emily began plating the first large batch of fluffy pancakes. Almost as if on cue, the rumble of footsteps on the porch signaled the arrival of Sam's friends. Jared, Collin, Brady, and Seth entered together, singing out a chorus of "good mornings" to Emily and Julia. A disgruntled Leah made her way in after them.

"Happy Saturday. Help yourselves to brunch," Emily said as they rushed to grab plates and get first pick of the food.

"Did you get some already, Julia?" Seth asked. Julia looked up from the books to see him swatting at Brady, who was behind him trying to spear some pancakes with his fork.

"I'm good, but thanks," she said, giving him an appreciative smile. It was nice knowing that she had Seth looking out for her. Seeming satisfied with her answer, he took the four on top of the pile and sat down at the table.

Meanwhile, Leah moved silently past Emily and Julia to pour herself a cup of coffee. She took one sip and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"This coffee tastes like dirt," she muttered, snatching the gallon of milk off of the counter where Julia had placed it. She filled her mug up the rest of the way to dilute it, then went to find a spot next to her brother. Emily sighed as she put the next batch of pancakes - this time chocolate chip - in a stack next to the blueberry ones. They didn't sit untouched for long.

"Well yeah, Leah, it was just _ground_ this morning," Jared chirped as he carried his plate to the table, a cheesy grin plastered on his face. Collin and Brady groaned, Seth shook his head, and the three girls just stared at him silently as he waited for laughter that never came.

"Jeez," Jared said, shoving a huge bite of food in his mouth. "Tough crowd."

"No... Bad joke," Collin retorted. Jared tried to argue, but to no avail.

"Well," Julia addressed the small crowd gathered at the table, crossing the room and opening the door to the covered porch. "It's nice to see you guys again. I'll be out here if you need me."

The guys waved as she exited the house. To the right of the door, there was a cushioned bench perfect for her to curl up on. She set her mug down on the tiny side table next to it and got comfortable in the bench's far corner. After weighing her options, she decided to start with the book of Quileute legends. She was already familiar with the Makah ones. But before Julia could open the book, her eyes caught sight of something odd.

Parked outside on the dirt driveway, right where he had left it yesterday afternoon, was Embry's motorcycle. Leah had pulled her car up next to it, occupying the spot where Sam's truck used to be. Julia was certain that she hadn't seen or heard Embry enter the house this morning. What was the bike still doing here?

Feeling only slightly unsettled, she resigned to opening her book, starting at the beginning with stories about Bayak, the trickster raven. Eventually, the door to the kitchen opened, and out poured Emily's five guests. Julia looked up only to give them a polite goodbye before returning her eyes to the pages.

In the middle of the legend about how the Quileute tribe was created, a male voice brought her back to reality.

"You know, I didn't have you pegged down as a bookworm."

Julia peeled her eyes off the page to see Embry ascending the stairs. The wood creaked under his feet as he side-stepped Emily's assortment of potted plants on his way over to her. She glanced back down at the book in her hands and realized that she had almost finished the entire thing. How long had she been sitting outside? And since when had she been able to read that fast?

Embry gave Julia a sweet smile as he sat down in the empty spot next to her. She could have sworn she felt her heart skip a beat.

Folding down the edge of the unfinished page and closing the book, Julia felt the corner of her mouth twitch upward, "I'm really not a bookworm. I don't normally read unless I have to."

"Me too," he replied. His expression was friendly, but his posture was rigid, like he was nervous about something. "I don't think I've picked up a book since high school, and I've been out for around three years now."

So that would make him… Twenty-one? Julia was shocked. Embry easily looked like he could pass for someone a bit older. She didn't say anything, only nodded as she reached over for her mostly forgotten cup of coffee just so she'd have something to do with her hands. Taking a sip and draining the mug of its contents, she discovered that it had gone cold.

"So… What's the book about?" Embry inquired. Julia thought he would make his way inside, but apparently he had other plans.

"Just one about the Quileute tribal legends. Emily gave it to me. She gave me one about Makah legends, too, but I know most of those by heart."

"I grew up hearing about those. My Mom is from the Makah tribe, she moved down here from Neah Bay right before I was born."

Embry was part Makah! Finally, Julia thought to herself, there was something meaningful that they had in common.

"Why did she leave?" Julia couldn't imagine why his mother would want to leave her homeland. She knew that if she had the choice, she would have wanted to stay.

"My father is Quileute," Embry replied, attempting to explain as simply as possible. "I guess she thought growing up here would be better for me."

Julia thought back to their conversation on the beach. Something didn't make sense.

"But I thought you didn't know who your father was?"

"I don't… I mean, that's all I really know about him," Embry wished he didn't have to tiptoe around the truth. It felt wrong to do this to her. How was he going to be able to get Julia to trust him when Emily wanted him to keep secrets from her?

Before he could lose her attention, Embry spoke up again, "Anyways... I told you I'd make up for yesterday, right?"

Julia was actually hoping he had forgotten about that.

"Embry, it's really not a big deal…"

"Have you had lunch yet?" He wasn't going to give up. This was more time he could be spending with her. "There's this place in town I could take you-"

"Lunch? What time is it?" Julia really had no idea how long she had been sitting outside.

"Almost noon. If we leave now we can beat the midday rush."

Julia looked up at the ceiling of the porch, then down at her plain sweatshirt and leggings combo. If she locked eyes with him, she was sure she'd give in. She didn't want him to feel like he owed her anything.

"I'm really not dressed to go out for lunch."

"You look beau- fine. I mean good," Embry stammered, the slightest hint of pink forming in his cheeks. Julia finally turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks…?"

"It's a, uh, pretty casual place anyways…"

The hopeful expression in his eyes broke her resolve. What did she have to lose, anyways?

"I guess lunch doesn't sound like a bad idea," she told him, standing up and gathering what she had brought outside. Embry seemed to relax for the first time since taking the spot next to her. It was like watching someone finally exhale after holding in their breath forever. "Wait right here."

Depositing her empty mug in the sink before bounding up the stairs to her room, Julia remembered her inner monologue from the night before. There was nothing wrong with letting herself be friends with him, she reminded herself.

 _Then why does this feel different?_

Julia placed the books on her bed and grabbed the essentials - cell phone, spare key to Emily's house, and wallet. On her way downstairs, she called out a goodbye to her cousin, wherever she was in the house. She hadn't seen Emily on the way in.

Before she could change her mind, Julia returned to find Embry patiently waiting for her. Much like yesterday, he led her over to his bike. This time she wasn't nervous.

It was a short ride into the main part of town. There wasn't much - some houses, a few businesses, the school buildings, and the tribal council center. Their destination sat next to the small marina right at the mouth of the Quillayute River - a restaurant appropriately named River's Edge. Its grey exterior looked weathered from years of wind and rain exposure, and the huge parking lot wasn't even half-full.

Embry walked ahead of Julia, reaching the large double-doors first and pulling one open for her. It was a small gesture, but his mother had taught him that little things could mean a lot, especially on a date. But he had to remind himself that no matter how badly he wanted it to be, this wasn't _technically_ a date.

Inside, the building seemed huge. The space was open and airy thanks to the high ceiling lined with wooden beams and the giant row of windows on the far side of the room. It looked like they had in fact beat the lunch rush. Only a handful of tables were currently occupied: a few families sat in the middle of the room at the larger tables, and couple of tourists were finishing up their late brunch. A host walked Julia and Embry over to a booth along the windows. From their spot, they had a full view of the marina with a pair of rocky sea stacks jutting out from the salt water.

Julia hadn't realized how hungry she was until she got settled in her side of the booth, with Embry taking the seat opposite her. The scent of food on the grill made her stomach growl. Luckily, a girl she assumed to be their waitress hurried over to their table with two glasses of water in hand and menus under her arm. She was tall and slender, and looked very put together - her black hair was pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, and her navy blue t-shirt printed with the restaurant's logo was tucked neatly into her belted jeans.

"Hey," she greeted Embry with warm familiarity, setting the glasses down in front of them. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Or anyone else, for that matter. You never come around," he replied as she rolled her eyes playfully. Julia looked between the two of them, not sure of what to say. How did he know her?

 _It's a tiny reservation, everyone knows everyone, duh._

"Because I'm always _here,_ Embry," she sighed, now distributing their menus. She turned to Julia, giving her a friendly smile. "Who's your friend?"

Julia thought she saw Embry's eyes flicker with some kind of emotion at the word "friend."

"This is Emily's cousin, Julia. I'm sure Jared probably mentioned _something_ to you, right?" he asked, silently begging that Jared had passed along the latest pack gossip to her.

She was quiet for a second until her eyes widened in recognition.

" _Oh..._ Yeah, he filled me in," she said, brushing a strand of hair that had escaped the ponytail behind her ear. Addressing Julia, the girl continued. "My name is Kim. I'm Jared's girlfriend. You must have met him on Thursday, right?"

Julia nodded, recalling vaguely that Jared had mentioned a Kim that day, "I remember he said he was going to see you on your dinner break or something."

"Yeah, he always comes to see me on my breaks," Kim grinned happily. "Except for days like today when he has patrol-"

Embry coughed loudly, catching Kim's attention. How did Jared forget to mention that Julia didn't know anything yet? Luckily, Julia's attention was focused on Kim.

"Patrol?" Julia questioned her.

"Oh, uh…" Kim stammered. She looked from Embry, to Julia, then back to Embry, who was a little on edge waiting to see how she was going to dig herself out of the hole she was in. "He does… Volunteering. With the police. He wants to have a career in law enforcement one day and… How about I give you two some time to look over the menu?"

"That would be great," Embry said stiffly.

Kim nodded politely at them, her face turning a soft shade of red. She spun quickly on her heels and nearly bolted off to the kitchen.

"Huh," Julia picked up the menu that had been placed in front of her, eyeing the sandwich section. A burger sounded great right about now. "I didn't know police departments had volunteer programs."

Embry wasn't sure how to reply. He was just grateful that Kim was able to come up with something so quickly, even though it sounded ridiculous.

"How are you liking La Push so far?" he asked, deciding it was best to change the subject.

Julia lowered her menu to find his warm brown eyes trained on her intently from across the table. She could feel the heat start to rise in her cheeks. He had just asked her one easy question; it shouldn't have been so hard to make her mouth form words.

"It's beautiful here," she finally replied. She glanced out the window, watching a group of otters play on the rocks below. "It reminds me of home. Home as in the Makah reservation."

Embry nodded in understanding, following her gaze outside to see what had gotten her attention. He supposed that La Push reminding her of Neah Bay was a good thing. That _had_ to mean she was feeling comfortable here.

She reluctantly made eye contact with him again, "Can I ask you something?"

Julia's unexpected question made his heart skip a beat. That phrase always gave him just a hint of anxiety, but with her, the feeling practically doubled.

"Anything," Embry said sincerely. Well, _almost_ anything.

Julia looked down at her hands briefly, then back up at him, trying to think of the best way to word her inquiry. How could she ask someone why he and his group of friends practically live at her cousin's house without sounding rude?

Thankfully, she was granted a little extra time to mull it over. Kim had returned to their table, pulling a pen and pad of paper from the apron tied around her waist and looking more composed than when she had left.

"Are you guys ready to order?"

Julia nodded, placing her order for a simple burger with fries. She was a little taken aback when Embry ordered not one, but two meals for himself. Kim smiled and assured them that their food would be out shortly.

Embry waited for Kim to leave them alone once more, "You were saying?"

Yikes. She had already forgotten exactly what she wanted to say.

"Well, I know you said you went to school with Sam, but… You and your friends seem to hang around Emily's house a lot," Julia started, biting her lip. That was more of an observation than a question. "I'm just curious as to why."

Embry didn't answer right away, playing with the straw in his untouched glass of water. He wasn't as good as Kim was at coming up with fake answers. That's what had helped drive a wedge between him and his mom these past few years, essentially ruining their relationship. He didn't want to do the same with his imprint.

"We all work with Sam," he said, deciding that was good enough. It wasn't a lie.

She nodded slowly at him, processing this new information. Then the questions started to flow all at once.

"Did Sam ever go to college? What does he do for work? Does he treat Emily well? I mean, she's _marrying_ him next Saturday. I just need to know that he's a decent person."

Embry chuckled at her, "I can assure you that Emily is his entire world. It's hard to explain exactly, but trust me. You have nothing to worry about."

Julia seemed to relax a little bit.

"Okay. But what about college? And work?" she pressed.

"He got a good scholarship to go to college, but he had some… Some obligations at home to take care of," Embry made sure to leave out the parts that Emily would obviously disapprove of. "And work… He's into, uh, contracting. You know, construction stuff. The rest of us help him part time at his projects."

"You've told me more about Sam in five minutes than Emily has in like, four years," Julia commented.

"What do you mean?"

Julia glanced around the dining room, then leaned in slightly closer to Embry as if she were sharing a secret. In a way, she was - she had never vocalized this to anyone before. But it seemed safe to tell him.

"Emily and I have always been close. We tell each other everything. Except when it comes to him. One day, she just… Disappears for a week. There was that accident with a bear, how she got her scars. Then out of nowhere, she's dating Sam. It's been years and she's told me practically nothing about him. It's just so… So..."

"Uncharacteristic?" Embry finished the sentence for her.

"Yes. Exactly."

Of course Embry knew the reason behind it all, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't have to say anything, though - Kim, with her impeccable timing, had returned to the table toting their entrees. She lingered awkwardly, looking like she was trying to find the courage to say something.

"So… Would you guys mind if I have lunch with you? This is the only chance I'll have to take my break before the rush really starts," she explained, looking down at her feet. The dining room wasn't quite full yet, but the tables around them had started to fill up. "If I have to sit with the creepy cooks in the back that hit on me again this week I might just lose it..."

"Well, uh…" Embry didn't know how to let her down gently. He really wanted to pick up where he left off yesterday with Julia. However, she had other plans.

"Of course we don't mind," Julia smiled up at Kim, who looked grateful.

"Then I'll be right back," she said happily, untying her apron on her way back to the kitchen.

 _This isn't a date, it's fine,_ Embry reminded himself in his head. He dug into one of his two meals, unable to shake the hint of disappointment from his thoughts. It was only a few minutes before Kim slid into the booth next to him, carrying a plate of salad for herself.

"Has Emily told you we're going to be bridesmaids together?" she asked Julia between bites of her salad. Julia shook her head.

"Emily hasn't told me a lot of things, apparently," she replied, giving Embry a knowing look. Kim didn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm in her voice.

"Oh, well it's going to be me, you, Leah, and her sister-in-law," she said matter-of-factly. "Just a small handful of us. And Embry's standing up for Sam."

Embry nodded, his mouth full of food. It looked like Kim was going to be directing this conversation. While he was glad that Jared had helped her grow into a more outgoing person over the years, at this particular moment he was wishing she was still quiet, mousy little Kim.

"Jared is, too," she said, smiling as she mentioned him.

"How did you two meet?" Julia asked as she took a bite of her burger, indulging Kim in conversation about her boyfriend. It was nice not having to talk about herself.

"School. Pretty much like everyone else on this reservation," Kim said, once again proving how small La Push actually was.

"So you and Jared are high school sweethearts?"

"Yeah, I actually had a _huge_ crush on him back in elementary school and it just kind of stuck," Kim giggled to herself, sounding like she belonged in a teen romance movie.

"When did you finally start dating?"

"Well, we sat next to each other in history class our junior year. One day he looked at me, and never looked away," she said, propping her chin up on her hand and looking dreamily out the window. Almost as if she could read Julia's mind, she added, "It was just like a romance movie."

Kim reminded Julia of Natalie. She seemed to be a romantic, an idealist, someone who always saw the bright side of things. Julia wished that kind of attitude came easy to her. Instead, she had to work hard in order to not dwell on her misfortune. She couldn't help but silently indulge herself in a fantasy that would never come to fruition - one where she, like Kim, would have a happy high school sweetheart story to tell. But her and Kim didn't share the same reality and never would.

Annoyed with herself and her train of thought, she shoved a few fries into her mouth.

"...It's hard not seeing him as much as I used to with work all during the summer and me going to Seattle for college," Kim had continued her monologue about Jared. "But we always find a way to work it out. We have that soulmate connection, you know."

Embry, who was already finished with one whole plate of food, watched Julia visibly cringe at the word _soulmate_.

"You don't believe in soulmates, Julia?" he asked in a low voice. She didn't answer him right away, not knowing what to make of the question. None of the guys she knew back home would ever ask her something like that.

"Maybe. I don't really know… It's just complicated," she finally said, shaking her head. "Do you?"

Without hesitation, he answered, "Absolutely."

"Well what if you've already met your soulmate and you just don't know it yet?" Kim offered, raising her brows and finishing the last bite of ranch-drenched lettuce from her plate.

Julia shrugged, "Doubt it. I've had some pretty bad luck in the relationship department so far. I think I'm swearing off of them for a while."

Embry saw Kim give him a look out of the corner of her eye.

"You never know, your luck might change sooner than you think," Kim grinned at Julia as she stood up, taking her plate with her. "I've got to get back to work now, though. I'll bring your check over in a few!"

It felt weirdly quiet after Kim left.

"Kim is just like my best friend from Port Orchard," Julia commented. "She likes to talk."

Embry smirked, "She wasn't always like that."

After finishing their meals, Julia found herself on the losing side of an argument over splitting the tab. The woman at the cash register looked on apathetically as they went back and forth.

"It's really okay, Embry. Didn't you say you're going to buy a car? That's way more important than my hamburger."

"I'm making it up to you for yesterday, remember?" Despite her protests, he was already pulling bills from his wallet.

"You don't have to."

"But I _want_ to."

Julia sighed, giving in to his insistence, "Fine. But I get to pay next time."

Embry didn't even try to hide the dumb smile he knew was plastered on his face.

 _Next time._


	12. Chapter 12: Complicated

Chapter 12: Complicated

The next morning, Julia jolted into consciousness, becoming aware of the clamminess of a cold sweat and the blanket tangled around her legs. Her nightmare had returned with a vengeance. Luckily, the wolf hadn't gotten much farther than it had previously.

Sighing and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she rolled over and checked the time. It was half past seven - considerably earlier than the time her nightmare had woken her up yesterday. Going back to bed wasn't an option, though. She felt wide awake, thanks in part to the soft stream of sunlight that was already falling through her window.

Moving from the bed to the dresser, she pulled out the first pair of athletic pants she could find - bright cerulean leggings. Next, a black shirt and a grey sweatshirt to protect her from the dewy chill of the forest. She didn't match in the slightest. She didn't care. Who did she have to impress? Throwing her hair into a quick ponytail after donning her mismatched outfit, she tiptoed downstairs in an effort to not wake Sam or Emily.

Everything was still and quiet, Julia noticed, from the inside of the house to the outside. There was no breeze flowing through the trees, no birds chirping a Sunday morning song as she made her way down the porch and to the trail that led into the forest. She couldn't run in silence. Instead, she put her headphones in and hit shuffle.

Julia couldn't help but feel her pulse pick up as she started off in a slow jog down the trail… Not yet from the physical activity, but rather from nerves. The rational part of her brain knew that the vicious wolf from her nightmare was (mostly) a figment of her imagination, but it still lingered in the back of her mind.

 _There aren't any wolves around here. Stop being stupid, Jules,_ she willed herself. _Just run._

So she picked up the pace and ran, humming along to _Seven Nation Army_ as her legs carried her deeper into the trees. Her fear faded away and was replaced by the peace that she always found when she was running.

Julia had only been at it for maybe twenty minutes when the path ended abruptly at the edge of a river. Taking her headphones out, she paused her music and sighed to herself. It was far too wide to cross - she'd have to turn around and double back. She knew she could have run much longer if it had been an option.

The sun had now risen all the way above the trees and was shining down on the water, making it shimmer with the current. The sound it made as it lapped at the pebble-lined banks was calming. Julia could feel her heart rate beginning to slow, and although she didn't want to let her body rest for too long, she couldn't help but scan the ground for the perfect stone. She found one quickly - it was flat and smooth, shaped like a lopsided oval. Her dad had taught her how to make a stone just like this skip across the water when she was five years old. All she had to do was flick her wrist just so…

Julia frowned as it made a sad _ker-plunk_ noise, immediately sinking to the bottom.

"This is way harder than I remember it being," she thought out loud. She searched for another and found one that would be acceptable. At first glance it was slightly less perfect than the previous one; it was a bit more jagged around the edges and not as flat. To her surprise, it skipped four times along the top of the river before slipping beneath the surface.

She couldn't help but grin with pride as she watched it bounce across the water. Her smile faltered, however, when she spotted something moving in the forest directly on the opposite side of the river. Her breath hitched in her throat when she realized what it was.

A huge animal with a sleek, dark grey coat speckled in black stepped slowly between the trees. It peered intently at her with its dark eyes - the same eyes that she had sworn she'd seen just a few nights ago.

The wolf from her nightmares was real, and it was right in front of her.

Julia froze instantly, fighting the urge to run for once in her life. She knew it wouldn't be smart to turn her back on a wild animal that could easily out pace her. While praying silently to the creator that she wouldn't get eaten today, she could practically hear her mother saying "I told you so." But almost as soon as the wolf had appeared, it left, disappearing into the trees in a blur of fur. Without hesitation, Julia turned around and headed back in the direction she came in, running as quickly away from the river and the wolf as she could go. At least she didn't have to work too hard to get her heart rate back up.

She felt like she was going insane. What were the chances that it was the same exact wolf that had been outside of her bedroom? Slim to none. But there was something about it's eyes that seemed eerily familiar. It made her feel even more uneasy than she already felt.

She had made it almost all the way back to the house when something out of place on the forest floor caught her eye. A dark piece of fabric was sitting under a bush, hidden in such a way that she hadn't seen it at the beginning of her run. Feeling safer now, Julia slowed her pace down, walking over to the rumpled maroon ball and gingerly picking it up. Holding it out in front of her, she unravelled it to find that it was a t-shirt - a large one, at that. It would have fit her like a dress were she to put it on. Maybe it belonged to Sam?

Without giving too much thought to why it might be there in the first place, she took it with her as she left the forest.

* * *

Embry admittedly didn't care much for Jared's idea to try shorter patrol shifts. It just meant that instead of getting days off here and there, everyone would have one shift per day. Even Leah agreed with him - although she was quiet now, they had both complained about it at the start of their 4AM shift this morning. But that was the least of his worries right now.

He knew he had effed up again by getting too close to Julia while he was on patrol. As soon as he realized she was out in the forest, he couldn't help but want to make sure she was okay. Emily would probably be understanding of that much, but if she found out that Julia had seen him twice now, he knew she'd be pissed. Of course, she didn't see _him_ per se - she saw a giant wolf instead. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized how that was actually worse.

He felt Paul phase to relieve him of his patrol duties, invading his head space toward the tail end of his train of thought in the process.

 _Yeah, no shit that's worse_ , Paul chided him. Of course he had to throw his two cents in. _If Emily finds out you're doing exactly what she told us not to do-_

 _I know,_ Embry thought. _Just imagine if you were in this situation with Rachel, though. I'm sure you'd do the same thing._

 _But Rachel isn't Emily's cousin,_ Paul reminded him. _There's a difference. You know I'm right._

Embry didn't respond to him. He focused on running in the direction of Sam and Emily's - he wanted to make sure he got there well before Julia did. He had made sure to hide his clothes nearby so he wouldn't have to go home before breakfast. Right… _Breakfast._ After already being up for five hours circling around the reservation.

Reaching his destination, he shifted back, his mind belonging to himself again. No matter how many times he phased back and forth, the sensation of going from four legs back to two would always feel strange at first. He stumbled but caught himself, setting out to search for the clothes he had hidden in the dark before the dawn.

Embry easily found the bottom half of his outfit, but he was having trouble finding his shirt. He _knew_ he should have just put them both in the same spot, but he had been in a rush this morning, haphazardly tossing his garments into the closest bushes he saw. And he had really screwed himself over. Why did every bit of foliage have to look exactly the same when he was pressed for time? Whatever, Emily and Sam would have something for him to borrow.

He made it to the house in record speed, bounding up the porch steps and going straight to a wooden box in the corner. Emily had put it there a couple of years ago for the pack and kept it stocked with spare clothes - t-shirts, shorts, you name it. It had proven to be extremely useful, as the pack members were prone to accidentally destroying or misplacing pieces of clothing. Embry fished out a plain black t-shirt, pulling it on as he made his way through the door. A small group had gathered at the table in the kitchen already - Julia wasn't among them, thankfully.

He took a seat next to Quil, who was piling his plate high with breakfast food. Emily really had outdone herself this time. The spread before them included bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, home fries, fresh fruit, toast, and her homemade cinnamon rolls. She assured that no one would be leaving unsatisfied.

Right as he was about to scoop a large helping of eggs onto his plate, he felt a sudden _whack_ on the back of his head. Although it didn't hurt as much as it took him by surprise, he still flinched. Turning around in his seat, he saw Emily standing behind him, wielding a rolled-up issue of her _Better Homes & Gardens _magazine. She looked _pissed_ … Just like he knew she would be.

"I didn't think you'd ever be one to resort to corporal punishment, Em-"

Emily cut him off, her words icy, " _What_ did I tell you about not doing anything wolfy around my cousin before the wedding?"

His pack mates went quiet and exchanged glances at each other around the table. Brady whispered something to Colin, who stifled a laugh.

"Emily, I can explain…" he started, having no idea where to go from there. Truth be told, he really _couldn't_ explain.

"Please do," she said, resting her hands on her hips and looking every bit like a mother who was about to ground her child for a month. Embry had never been the one to make Emily angry. He decided that it scared him just a little bit. For all she did for him, and for the whole pack, he knew better than to do something that would upset her. Well, usually... But the circumstances had changed now.

"Well, uh, I just," he swallowed, looking to Sam for help. He simply stared back, unblinking, obviously taking the side of his fiancé. "I wanted to check on her, ya know, make sure she's safe."

"So long as Julia is under this roof, you can consider her safe. Do _not_ let me hear about her seeing you after you have phased again," she demanded, her voice stern. "Got it?"

 _Yes ma'am._

He simply nodded, not wanting to say anything else out of fear of making things worse. With one last piercing look at him, she turned and made her way to a chair beside Sam. The rest of the pack returned to their conversations. Embry filled up his plate, glancing at Quil next to him. He wanted nothing more than to smack the stupid smirk off of his friend's face.

"That was priceless," Quil said in a low voice, chuckling to himself.

"But it wasn't nearly as bad as when she found out you imprinted on Claire," he retorted, rolling his eyes and taking a huge bite of potatoes.

He couldn't be annoyed at Quil for long, though. The sound of the porch door opening caught his attention, and he knew who would be coming through it.

Embry could hardly believe how just her presence made the very air around him feel lighter, happier. He tried not to stare as she walked through the threshold and-

 _You have_ got _to be kidding me_ , he thought, caught completely off guard. His eyes had rested on the piece of fabric she was clutching in her right hand - a piece of fabric that looked suspiciously like the shirt he couldn't find in the forest.

Julia remained calm on the outside, but she was screaming on the inside. She honestly should have expected to see the kitchen full of Sam's friends upon her return, but all regularly scheduled brain function was cancelled when she had seen the wolf directly across from her by the river. What was worse, she noticed that Embry was among them, looking at her with that intent gaze of his that she had grown familiar with in the past few days. She hated herself for it, but she could feel herself becoming very aware of her disheveled appearance. Not that she could do anything about it now.

"Morning everyone," Julia greeted the group at the table. She held up the shirt in her hands, next addressing her cousin. "I found this outside, it looks like it could be Sam's."

Embry watched with bated breath as Emily studied the shirt that obviously wasn't her fiancé's. She tilted her head, brows furrowed, realizing it must belong to someone else in the pack.

"Hmm. That's odd. There's a basket with dirty laundry over in the corner, you could just toss it in with that."

Julia did as she was told, then moved to the sink to pour herself a glass of water. She definitely needed it after the experience she just had.

"Where have you been all morning, Jules?" Emily questioned Julia, all traces of her previous anger now gone as if she had never been mad at Embry in the first place.

Finishing half the glass and leaning back on the counter, she replied, "Just for a morning run. I found that shirt along the trail not too far from the house. It was just sitting there. I assumed it belonged to-"

"A morning run, huh?" Emily interrupted, attempting to redirect the conversation. "Has the novelty of sleeping in worn off already?"

"Not exactly… I had that nightmare again," Julia looked down at her feet, slightly embarrassed to be talking about her dreams in front of all of Sam's friends. "The one I told you about yesterday."

Second only to his obvious feelings of concern for her, Embry was almost jealous that he wasn't the one she was confiding in. _Almost…_ Because how could he realistically expect her to come to him for something like that? He felt stupid for even thinking it.

Emily chuckled, "Jules, I promise, you have nothing to worry about-"

"But I saw it again. I saw it this morning, by the river. And call me crazy, but it's at least twice the size of a normal wolf."

All heads turned to look at Julia as soon as the words left her mouth. Embry felt his heart jump into his throat. He glanced down at his plate in shame, swearing at himself inwardly. Much like the slices of bread next to his bacon, he was toast.

"You don't say," Emily's voice was calm, but her eyes shot daggers at Embry. He gave her an apologetic look and mouthed the word "sorry", but he knew that his pathetic attempt at damage control wouldn't do much.

Julia moved slowly to the table. She hated how everyone watched her, waiting expectantly to hear what she would say next. Maybe they had seen the animal in the woods, too? More likely, they just thought she was insane.

"I mean, I could just be imagining it," she said, taking the open seat next to Embry. Everyone was _still_ looking at her - time to downplay the situation to spare her dignity. "My mom tried to freak me out on the drive here with all this talk about cougars, wolves, and bears."

"Oh, no. I believe you," Emily said in an uncharacteristic monotone. Julia couldn't help but notice the strange way she was looking at Embry of all people. It was a look she had never seen sweet, happy Emily give anyone.

The silence that followed was painfully tense, cut only by the clinking noises of silverware on plates. Julia didn't know what to say to make it stop.

"Well…" she started, filling up her plate slowly with food. "I guess I just won't run in the forest anymore."

Emily began to relax only when Sam rested a hand on her shoulder.

"That would probably be smart," she said, nodding her head. "Just in case."

A few of the guys stood up, clearing their plates from the table and thanking Emily for breakfast before leaving. The awkward silence lingered until Emily picked up her own plate and headed over to the sink, with Sam following close behind. Only Quil, Embry, and Julia remained.

Julia sighed, stabbing some fruit with her fork and muttering in a low voice, "I really know how to clear a table, don't I?"

"Don't worry. It's not you, promise," Embry told her, catching her eye and trying to reassure her. She looked embarrassed, blaming herself for the uncomfortable turn that breakfast took. It only made him feel worse knowing that it was really his fault.

Julia raised a brow at him, clearly not buying it.

"Everyone must think I'm nuts," she said between bites, shaking her head. "Seeing a giant wolf all over the place. _Dreaming_ about it... Like it's even possible that there are wolves bigger than bears around here."

Embry exchanged a glance with Quil, then turned back to Julia, "You're dreaming about what exactly?"

She looked down at her plate, her cheeks flushed a shade of light pink.

"You're gonna think I'm so stupid…"

"Julia," he started, reaching out to her but stopping himself abruptly. "I could never."

She looked at him for a moment, surprised at the seriousness in his voice. She could see it in his eyes that he meant it.

Julia drew a breath in and let it out slowly before explaining, "I saw this giant wolf from my bedroom window the other night. I've never seen one that big before. I guess it freaked me out so much that I started having nightmares about it chasing me. And then I swear I saw the same one today by the river."

Embry didn't say anything. His imprint was having nightmares about _him_. Well, not real Embry, but wolf-Embry - it was still him nonetheless. He felt like the world's biggest asshole.

"...See, you _do_ think I'm stupid."

"No, I don't think you're stupid, not at all," Embry bit his lower lip, trying to swallow his guilt. He needed to at least try to fix what he did. "Wanna do something to get your mind off things? Quil and I are going into Forks today, I'm finally getting my car. You should come with us."

He heard Quil get up from the table and give a nearly inaudible sigh, so quiet that he wouldn't have heard it if he didn't have supernaturally enhanced hearing. Sure, cars were _their_ thing, but he'd just have to get over it. This was his imprint, after all.

To Embry's relief, Julia's expression immediately softened and her slight frown turned into a smile.

"That sounds great," she said finishing the last bite of food from her plate. "Do I have time for a quick shower? I don't wanna go into town looking like _this_."

Emily had returned to clear off the rest of the table and cut Embry off before he could answer, "But Jules, I've barely seen you since you've gotten here! Embry has stolen you away every day."

Her tone was innocent, but she threw a look his way that said _back off._ So that would be his punishment - a day without Julia.

"Emily's right," he conceded, rising from his chair. He knew better than to put up a fight after what had just happened, especially with Sam in the room. "Wanna come to the garage tomorrow instead? Is noon okay?"

Julia nodded, following suit, "Noon is perfect."

Embry just stood there, looking at her - he didn't want to leave without her. But Quil impatiently cleared his throat behind him, ready to go.

"See you tomorrow," he said, wishing he could kiss her goodbye. Or hug her. _Anything_ that wasn't just staring and smiling wistfully as he followed Quil out the door.

And then there were three.

"Sam is going to take care of stuff around the house today, so it's just me and you, chick," Emily beamed at her cousin. Okay, make that two. Of course Julia was happy to be spending time with Emily, but she couldn't ignore the little pang her chest - dare she say, her heart - when Embry walked out the door. She didn't want to feel it, but she was _sad_ to not be going with him.

Julia returned her cousin's smile, doing her best to push the unwarranted feeling away.

Hours later, the girls found themselves sitting on a dock at the marina, enjoying ice cream from the corner store in town. Emily decided that she needed to get out of the house for a while, and Julia hardly disagreed. Emily filled Julia in about her life with Sam the past few years, apologizing for not introducing him sooner. However, Julia couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't getting the whole story.

"I'm so sorry, Jules. Things just got so… Hectic around here, and I know you're busy, too."

"I was just concerned for you. I didn't know anything about him. I want to know you're happy, Em."

Emily smiled, "No one has ever made me as happy as Sam has made me."

"I hope I can have something like that one day," Julia said, watching the boats at the dock rock slowly up and down in the water.

"Don't worry. You will," Emily said, giving her cousin a little encouraging nudge on the shoulder. "You're a catch. That Ben kid didn't deserve you."

It was quiet between the two of them for a minute, the ambient sound of the marina filling their ears until Emily piped up again.

"You and Embry seem to be getting along really well," she said, studying Julia's face to gauge her reaction. As she expected, her cousin's face didn't really give anything away.

"Yeah. I like hanging out with him. He's been really nice to me," Julia nodded. "I mean, all of the guys seem nice. Leah is Leah, though."

"I'm sorry if she hasn't been the most friendly," Emily apologized yet again. "She's been through a lot in the past few years. But I'm glad that everyone else has welcomed you here."

The silence returned as a question formed in Julia's mind. She wanted to believe that her cousin would answer her honestly.

"Why do you always cook for them? Don't they have families?"

Emily gave one of those smiles someone puts on when they're trying to think of a way to beat around the bush. She looked down at her feet dangling off of the dock.

"Of course they have their own families. But they're my family, too."

Julia knew that she was only getting a half truth. Inside, it frustrated her to the point where she was starting to get angry with her cousin. Ever since she had gotten to La Push, she felt like there was something being kept from her and she didn't know why.

Being the one on the outside _sucked._

There wasn't anything that needed to be kept a secret… At least, there _shouldn't_ be. The Emily she knew and loved wouldn't keep her in the dark this long. That was just the kind of person Emily was - growing up, she always kept Julia in the loop. However, giving her the benefit of the doubt now was becoming tedious.

"Why can't you just tell me what's going on?" Julia questioned, her voice taking on a serious tone.

Emily locked eyes with her, looking as regretful as ever, "It's complicated."

"I'm sure I'll be able to follow-"

"It will all make sense soon," Emily caught Julia before she could protest further. "I promise. But that's all I can say right now."

She stood up, extracting the keys to Sam's truck from the pocket of her jeans and heading back up the dock to where it was parked.


End file.
